Awakening: Tale of the Swordsman
by MuttDogg
Summary: An altered story telling of Fire Emblem Awakening, slight changes to canon here and there. Detailed action scenes and plot driven, will have some fluff in later chapters. Roland the wandering mercenary stumbles upon a town in dire need and with the help of two knights, a sprightly cleric and a hooded tactician, Roland's decision to journey with them will change his life forever.
1. Prologue

**_Hello fellow reader/s before we get this story started, i would like to thank you for taking the time to read this story. I know thousands of these have been done before, but this is something i needed to do. anyways enjoy the story!_**

 _ **Prologue: The Nomad Swordsman**_

Wearily trudging along one of the many farmlands scattered around southern Ylisse, the golden wheat seemed to shine in the morning sun and wave in the gentle breeze that caressed the plains. This peace however was broken by loud grumbling noise that was my stomach. _Gods if I don't find something soon the idea of eating my boots isn't so bad._

Following this train of thought my stomach rumbled again seeming to agree with the idea of roasted leather boots. However, keen to not eat my boots just yet I picked up my pace to a jog as the wheat fields had come to an end and a large hill surfaced along the path. Upon ascending the hill, a village lay at the bottom of it not a particularly large village by any means as it only had 4 houses, a barn, a windmill and blacksmith. _But hey where there's a village there's definitely food._

With new found vigour I quickly made my way down the hill and into the village. Upon arriving however, it was not the type of welcoming I was expecting, if you could even call it a welcoming.

"Hello is anyone there!" I called out. I was greeted with silence. _You've got to be kidding me._ Greeted by this heartfelt welcome I made my way to the centre of the village. Passing by the house and the smithy it confirmed my suspicions that there was indeed no one here.

"Just when I was praising my luck of finally finding something edible" I deadpanned and swiftly kicked a nearby bucket, which rocketed off and broke through a nearby window.

 _Oh hells way to make myself welcome._

At the sound of shattering glass, multiple people wielding various farming equipment burst out of the nearby barn, with an elderly man with tattered robes and a withered old staff, who was probably the elder of the village, stepped forward to speak. I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword just as a precaution that they did attack.

"Begone you filthy ruffian, haven't your kind done enough damage to our homes!" he bellowed while waving his staff at me, while the other villages took trembling steps towards me wielding their various farming equipment.

"Now hold on gramps, I haven't got a clue on what your talking about I just got to this village" I spoke calmly trying not to agitate them even more then I already had.

"Don't try to play the fool! You're with that bandit gang that harasses our village, takes our food and steals our livestock all so we can live under your so called 'protection' "the old man spat "I mean look at yourself, do you really think us fools to trust a stranger that dresses like that" he said with some amusement.

At that remark I gazed at my appearance through one of the nearby windows, with my brown hair all tangled and mattered covering my dark brown eyes if I didn't brush my hair out the way, my once black cloak now turned brown and tattered, my was shirt shredded, my pants also had various holes and tears in them and the leather boots I wore were also quite damaged as well. The only part of my outfit that was in pristine condition was the red sash I had wrapped around my waist and my curved sword that hung around my belt.

"Okay point taken gramps, but if I really was a bandit wouldn't I be here with my 'gang', also how do you expect to defend yourselves with farming equipment, I mean seriously that guy is just carrying a stick" I stuck my finger out to the one villager's with a copper pan on his head while wielding a small branch with both his hands. At that the villages turned their heads towards the culprit, some of them muttering under their breath and others face palming themselves, the villager with the stick went bright red at this remark and shuffled his way to the back of the group.

"Ugh point taken you young fool, how-" The elder sighed out, but whatever remark he had coming for me was cut off by the thundering of hooves as a group of horse's road into the centre of the village scattering the villagers. The riders dismounted and circled myself and the elder, all of them wore tattered clothing and carried various weapons, one of them probably their leader even carried a large two-handed broadsword that looked like it could cleave a horses' head in two.

"I'm guessing this is those ruffians you were talking about gramps?" I dryly remarked, the elder only giving a grunt as confirmation to my question. The man with the broadsword stepped forward from the bandit gang, he had a malicious grin on his face and when he spoke, he spoke with an accent that was common in Plegia.

"Well Elder Cain this wouldn't be signs of a rebellion from our protection would it? I mean hiring another bandit to take out our little group?" motioning with his hand towards me.

Before I could correct him that I'm not a bandit, a title that I was not enjoying, the elder quickly spoke out.

"Y-Yes we did! And though he might not look like much, he's the best of the best!"

 _You sly old dog_

Giving out a large sigh I stepped forward to speak to the leader of the bandit group.

"Yes this wonderful old man here, did hire me and we were just discussing my payment before you so rudely interrupted us, right gramps?" I remarked dryly. The elder only giving quick nods as confirmation.

"Well then, looks like we got a problem now don't we?" the leader spoke as he stepped forward. We were now standing face to face, the elder quickly ran off to hide with the other villagers with none of the bandits stopping his escape. The silence in the air hung like a thick fog, neither the bandit leader or myself making the first move to attack. I used this time to size up the other four bandits, while they did carry actual weapons they didn't look particularly skilled in them, the leader himself probably had the giant sword just for show. This would make this fight a hell of a lot easier.

Giving a quick grin I slammed my head into the bandit leaders nose, hearing a satisfying crunch as his nose erupted with blood, quickly stepping back I delivered another two quick strikes to his nose again, hearing another crunch as my fists came away with his blood. The leader screamed clutching his now shattered nose and stumbled back yelling out to his comrades. "Don't just stand there kill the bastard!"

At that command two bandits charged at me, one with a high overhead slash, but I quickly closed the distance between us and delivered a punch to his gut, causing him to drop his sword while it was still over his head. Quickly snatching it out of the air, I slammed the sword into the bandit's gut causing him to keel over as a fountain of blood sprayed from where the sword was. The other bandit quickly stopped in his tracks, and hesitated, using this to my advantage I quickly drew my curved blade and slashed at his throat. He soon fell to the ground clutching at his throat trying to stop the blood flow, to no avail. _Two down another three to go._

Quickly scanning my surroundings, the bandit leader drew his broadsword and charged at me with a roar, another bandit with a spear came up from behind trying to surprise me. The spear bandit quickly thrust his spear out, and tripped and lost his balance, I quickly grabbed the spear and spun it and the bandit who clung to it in front of me, just as the leader swung his giant sword. The broadsword buried itself deeply into the bandit's ribs, causing him to give a gut wrenching scream of pain and fall to the ground dragging the leader with him. Standing over the dead bandit and the leader buried underneath him, trying to shove his dead comrade off him, he quickly noticed me above him and his eyes filled with fear and began begging.

"H-hey c'mon you don't have to kill me; I'll leave this dump along from now on! I pro- "

Whatever he had to say he didn't finish it, as I stabbed my blade through his throat and turned to face the last bandit. He stood across from me tears in his eyes and he was trembling so much he could shake a house down, taking a stepped forward blade pointed towards him I gave a bloodlust grin.

"Boo"

This was the final straw for the last bandit as he turned tail and ran as fast and far away from me as he could, ignoring the horse that he rode in on it wasn't to long before he was out of sight of the village.

Wiping the blood from my sword on one of the dead bandits cloaks I called out to the elder.

"Hey gramps the bandits won't be problem anymore!" at this the elder stuck his head out from one of the houses and viewed the scene before him dumbstruck.

"H-how could we ever repay you, those ruffians were causing us trouble for months" he stammered

"First off you can repay me by giving me some food, and then you can point me in the direction of the closest village, preferably a larger wealthier one" I remarked. He quickly agreed and before long I had a small rucksack with food and water and directions to a village just south of here. Before leaving the village however, the elder stopped me.

"Young fool wait. You never gave us your name, just who are you?" he inquired

"Me? I'm just a wandering mercenary, Roland's my name" I gave small smile and a wave as I began to leave the small village behind, hearing the joyful cries and cheers of the villagers as I left for my next destination.

 ** _Authors Notes: Hello again reader/s if you've made it this far down it must of meant you finished the prologue chapter, if you've enjoyed this chapter please leave a review on what i can improve upon so i can continue uploading, the first couple of chapters will be quite action heavy much like Awakening, I'll also be bending canon here and there but the overall original story won't change._**


	2. Southtown

_Chapter 1: Southtown_

 _It had been a day since I stopped the bandit menace at a small village in southern Ylisse, the villagers while grateful could only afford to give a small amount of supplies for my journey to a village fittingly called Southtown. Hopefully there was something more thrilling at Southtown then the previous village, as the last bandit encounter I had was hardly something to be excited about. I don't know why, but I just have a good feeling about this place._

According to the elder of the previous village, Southtown was a small fishing town built around a large river, as such the river flows through the canals of the town providing the inhabitants with a steady supply of water. So finding the town wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. However, when the town did come into view it wasn't sight I was expecting. A large church within the centre of the town was lit up like a bonfire and I could hear screams coming from within the town itself. _Well this not the type of day I was expecting_

Quickly picking up my pace, I ran into the town to see what the situation was and if a wandering mercenary could be of any assistants.

Upon enter the town all matters of hell broke lose, villagers were scattered everywhere screaming and running away from the centre of the town, the crystal clear water of the canals were dyed a crimson red in some areas and some homes were even destroyed. I made my way towards the commotion pushing past the fleeing villagers, a small brunette woman crashed into me and fell to the ground.

"The hell is going on here!" I had to raise my voice just so she could hear me over the screaming and yelling, as I pulled her to her feet.

"B-bandits in the town market square, their lead by a monster of a man named Garrick, I would get out of here if I were you there's no stopping them!" she yelled as she quickly ran towards the outskirts of town. Taking a deep breath, I sprinted towards the market square

 _Okay bandits here I come!_

Arriving from the eastern side of the square I was greeted with yet another surprise. Four people had already began to fight off the bandit force, two of them looked to be knights of some kind with one on top of a large warhorse fighting with a lance, a woman wielding a staff that glowed with a gentle blue light, probably a cleric of some sort and lastly a hooded man wielding both sword and magic. _Boy_ _today is just full of surprises, well their fighting the bandits so its best if I make contact with them._

At that train of thought I dove into the fray, quickly dispatching a bandit mage caught by surprise by my sudden entrance and I began to make my way towards the knight with blue hair duelling a bandit with a large axe. However, he didn't notice another bandit sneaking behind him ready to strike. I quickly dove forward shoving my blade through the bandits back before he could strike the knight, he gave a gut wrenching scream before he went limp, swiftly wrenching my blade free I barely had enough time to block a slash from the blue haired knight. With a loud clash of steel on steel our blades collided

"Hey! Hold on, in case you didn't notice I just saved your life, so I would be grateful if you didn't try to cleave my head off" I remarked quite dryly, he noticed the dead body besides me and we withdrew our blades, I also noticed the axe bandit was laying on the ground defeated as well.

"Oh my bad I was caught in the moment, I just assumed you were part of the bandits because of you're ugh…"

"Clothing?"

"Yeah your clothing. However, you have my gratitude and we could use your assistance in dealing with the rest of them, that is if your willing?"

"You four looked like you need the help anyways and besides I'm not missing this fight, the name's Roland by the way" I extended my arm out towards the knight who took it with a tight grip.

"It's good to have you on board Roland, I'm Chrom, the man on the horse is Frederick, the man in the hood is Robin and the girl over there is my younger sister Lissa." I gave small nod to each person respectively at their brief introduction, the knight Frederick gave me a wary look probably suspicious of my intentions, the cleric Lissa quickly shone a bright smile and an excited wave towards me and Robin gave a nod of his own. With the introductions out of the way we turned towards the oncoming bandit threat with swords, lances and magic at the ready.

It turns out that Robin was a keen tactician and strategist, and developed a plan to use one of the canal bridges as a choke point to better deal with the rushing bandit force. Chrom and myself were at the forefront of the group cutting through any bandit that stood in our way, Robin provided ranged attacks with his lighting magic and even jumped into the fray with myself and Chrom if we got overwhelmed. Frederick was protecting Lissa and our rear guard. Only a handful of minutes passed before the majority of the bandits were either dead or had run off to live another day, this only left Garrick and a handful of loyal bandit's left to defeat. With the finial bandits preoccupied at hurling insults at their fleeing comrades, we took this moment of respite to catch our breaths and have Lissa heal any wounds we sustained.

"So Robin, who taught you to wield magic and a sword? Not to mention how good you are with strategy." I inquired between heavy breaths

"Heh, good question. However, that's not something I have the answer to" he sheepishly replied rubbing sweat off his brow.

"Huh what do you mean?"

"Well you see Robin's an amnesiac" Lissa spoke up, her voice stained with sadness, she was healing a cut that Chrom had gotten on his arm, her staff illuminating the area with a gentle blue glow. "But we'll help him get his memories back right Chrom?"

"Indeed little sister" replied Chrom as he gave a small grimace as the cut on his arm was being sealed up by the healing magic. At that Robin gave a warm smile.

"Thanks guys but we should re-focus our attention to the matter at hand"

"Indeed it seems the remaining ruffians have noticed our presence yet again" Frederick stated while mounting his large warhorse in preparation for the coming battle. Having received our second wind, we marched towards Garrick laughing maniacally in front of the burning church. "Well it looks like the little sheep's have been tenderised and are ready for the slaughter" he emphasised this by slamming his axe into a smouldering wooden beam.

"Bit theatrical don't you think?" I whispered to Robin, who only grunted in response.

Chrom must have been feeling theatrical himself because he stepped forward and slammed his own blade into the ground.

"For your crimes against Ylisse and her people you will be put to the blade today!" and charged forward, leaving Robin and myself staring at each other dumbstruck and Lissa and Frederick giving exasperated sighs.

"Does he do this often?" I questioned Frederick

"Aye milord does show this reckless behaviour quite often" he sighed out

"Quickly you two better go after him, he'll need the help, don't worry Frederick will be with me" Lissa motioned towards Chrom who was duelling with Garrick, and unbeknownst to him more bandits were circling and getting ready to strike. With that Robin and myself sprinted off.

"Roland you take the left and I'll go right!"

"Got it"

And with that we split up and dove into the fray. Quickly sizing up my three opponents, a large brute of a man wielding a rusty axe, and two frail looking mages. _Shouldn't be a problem_ I noted to myself. With one of the mages pre-occupied with charging up a fireball to fling at Chrom, I caught him by surprise my sword slashing across his chest. His cry of pain alerted the other two to my presence, wasting no time at charging the other mage, I closed the distance quickly and brought my sword in a downward strike. However, he stumbled back and fired a fireball at point blank range. Luckily out of panic it wasn't well prepared or aimed so it only clipped my shoulder and soon a sizzling warmth and the smell of smoke caught my attention. My tattered cloak had been set ablaze, using this to my advantage I ripped it off and flung it at the mage, catching it with his face. His whole body soon combusted with flames as he screeched his way to nearest source of water. Grinning to myself _You're not the only one who can throw fireballs._

While I was busy being a smartass, I felt tree trunk like hands grip my neck and lift me off the ground, causing me to drop my sword in the process. _Ah crap forgot about the big guy_

I repeatedly slammed my fists into the brute's arms trying make him drop me, but to no avail. Thunderous laughter soon filled my head

"Gwahah! I'm gonna pop yer head of like a melon!" _Wonderful imagery, really what I need right now_

My vision was beginning to dim as I gasped for air, desperately looking at my surroundings I saw that Robin clearly had less trouble dealing with his side as there were bodies scattered around him. _Gods damn it! I should have taken the right side_

Waving my hands desperately in his direction trying get his attention, I tried calling out his name but only for it come out as various coughs and splutters.

'Aw what are you doing little fish? Trying to get help?" the brute gloated

My act of looking like a fish out of water must have worked as Robin threw a spear of lighting that pierced the brute's shoulder causing him to drop to his knees. He still didn't let go of my throat by I was close enough to the ground that I grabbed my sword and pierced it through his chin, the tip of the blade sticking out of his head. With that he collapsed to the ground motionless, I feel to ground sucking in as much air as I can to my deprived lungs.

"And you're a god damn shish kebab" I panted out.

Robin quickly ran over helping me to my feet, and wrapped an arm around my shoulder so I could lean on him.

"Thanks I owe you one, but you could have thrown that thing a little sooner" I joked

"Yeah true, but I was so shocked that you had somehow been caught by a mountain" he replied with a mischievous grin on his face

"Point taken, how's Chrom going?"

"Well…"

As our gazed drifter to the young lord, their duel reached its climax as Chrom's blade shined a brilliant blue as he landed a powerful downward slash across Garrick's chest, the bandit leader collapsed to the ground, his brief tranny at an end, with only the smouldering church and few destroyed homes as the only sign he was even here. The battle at an end the five of us re-grouped, with Lissa fussing over my injury in which I had to constantly remind her that I was okay and only my pride had been wounded.

The rest of the morning was spent helping the citizens of the town repair what damages had been done and Lissa attending to any wounded. By the time that was over it was nearly sundown and we waved goodbye to the townsfolk who despite their best efforts to make us stay the night Chrom, Frederick and Lissa were in a hurry to get back to the capital, and I wasn't to keen to be the centre of attention in a recently liberated town, so I joined them until we got to the outskirts.

"Wow! Robin you're amazing, swords, magic and tactics is there nothing you can do! Also Roland, you're no average swordsman either, you must of taken on at least four bandits at one point" Lissa was practically jumping up and down as she shouted our praise. In which Robin sheepishly scratched the back of his head, his face tinged red with embarrassment. I could only look away as I felt my face heat up from embarrassment as well. To which annoyingly Chrom agreed with her.

"You're certainly no helpless victim Robin, and despite looking like a bandit Roland, you're certainly one of the better fighters that I've seen in a long time" I gave Chrom a small glare at his joke, but decided to let it slide.

"Yes and perhaps you could explain how you came to be here" Frederick motioned to Robin and then turned to stare down at me

"And how you conveniently showed up just we need assistance?"

"I understand your distrust towards me, Sir Frederick, but I can't explain why only small amounts of knowledge return to me at a time. But, you have to believe me I have told you all I know" Stated Robin with a firm resolve.

"And I was on my way after doing business in a smaller village just north of here, when I saw the smoke and herd the cries of people. So I rushed in to see what was happening when I stumbled upon you four" I answered, staring at him eyes unwavering. It was only broken by Chrom as he placed a hand on Fredericks shoulder.

"They both fought to save innocent lives Frederick, that is enough for my heart to know that their good people" I inwardly cringed at that last comment knowing that I was far from a 'good' person.

"And what about your head milord? Will you not also take its council?" Frederick countered.

"Frederick the Shepherd's could use people of their talents, with brigands and bandits always disturbing the peace and blooding our soil, it would be a waste to lose such an adept tactician and an able bodied swordsman" Chrom spoke in a calm heartfelt manner.

"So Robin, Roland. How about are you willing to join us?"

Robin was only silent for a few moments before speaking up.

"I would be honoured to join you Chrom"

However, I was silent for longer. This was no easy decision to make, I travelled alone on the endless path of a mercenary in the first place so I can avoid making the mistake I did so long ago. But I couldn't put my finger on it, but these people made me feel… _welcome._ Or something like that I don't know.

"Well Roland?" Chrom inquired further, he stretched out his hand towards me, Robin placed his own hand on my shoulder giving me a warm smile and nod. Lissa shone her brilliant smile and Frederick gave the smallest of smiles I had to do a double take to see if I was seeing things. Letting out a small sigh, I finally gave my response.

"Heh, you guys are relentless I'll give you that. But yeah, consider this swordsman a protector of the herd" And I took Chrom's hand in a tight grip as I looked around with a small grin at my new comrades.

 _ **Authors Notes:**_ _Whew that was a long one, but hey Roland is now a part of the Shepherds huzzah. I've got one more action filled chapter planned before things take a breather. So thank you guys for taking your time to read this and please leave a review on what I can improve upon it greatly helps me out. Until next time!_


	3. Night Terrors

_**Chapter 2: The Man and the Terrors that fell from the Sky**_

 _It has only been a couple of hours since I liberated yet another bandit infested village. But this time I didn't do it alone, with the help of Chrom, Frederick, Robin and Lissa we quite handily eliminated the threat and brought peace back to the sleepy town. Somehow by the end of all that, Robin and myself joined the Shepherd's. Ylisse's small but highly skilled militia charged with keeping the peace, or 'protecting the sheep' as Frederick puts it. And so now we marched on back towards the capitol Ylisstol._

The sun was slowly setting over the horizon, cascading the forest in an orange glow. Some birds still readily chirped away in the trees and the cicadas had just begun their buzzing. Overall it was very peaceful. However, it was only ruined by Lissa's constant bombardment of questions towards me.

"Roland you're a mercenary right?"

"Yes"

"Then why do your clothes look like they've been dragged through hell and back, can't you just get new ones?"

"No"

"What do you mean no? I thought all mercenary's had to look good, or at least dashing or handsome or something"

"Not this mercenary"

She gave out a frustrated sigh and mumbled something under her breath in which I only caught bits and pieces, something about a clothing overhaul? Whatever it was I wasn't looking forward to it.

"Anyways where do you come from? You're not from Ylisse are you?"

"No"

"Then where?"

"To the west"

"So what like Plegia" frustration seeping into her voice.

"Beyond that"

"Ugh I give up! You're enjoying this aren't you?" Staring at me with a pout and letting out a frustrated sigh at the vagueness of my answers.

"I'm enjoying this more than you clearly" I replied with a small grin, to which she threw up her hands and moved to the front of our small group to talk to Chrom or Robin. However, from where she left the conversation Frederick picked it up, moving up next to me in our small formation. He was dismounted and was leading his large warhorse be its rein's.

"Beyond Plegia would mean Valm correct?"

"Indeed"

"I see. But you do not speak with an accent, or at least it's a very subtle one."

"True, but I haven't returned to Valm in a very long time"

At this Frederick gave a small nod, accepting my answer.

We continued on in silence until the sun had set and the stars illuminated our path as they shined like bright gems in the dark void of the night. This peacefulness was yet again broken by Lissa as she complained to Chrom that we should have just stayed the night at Southtown. She emphasised this by swatting away bugs and other manner of insects and spluttering like someone had had just had a terrible meal.

"C'mon Lissa, hardship builds up character. Why don't you help me gather firewood?"

"Tpht! Plew! Ugh yuck I think I swallowed it. And no thank you I'll pass, I think I've built up too much character today!"

"I think we should start making plans on what we're going to eat, I don't know about you guys but I'm starving" As Robin said this, his stomach let out a loud rumble emphasising his hunger, causing him to flush red with embarrassment.

"Yes I do believe we should set up camp for the night, Lady Lissa and I can clear out a campsite" Frederick said as he tied his horse to a nearby tree. At this Lissa let out a large groan and unwilling began to help him.

An hour had passed when Robin and myself had returned from our hunting trip as we dragged a bear by its paws back to our humble campsite. It wasn't long before Chrom, Robin and myself were greedily eating away at the bear meat, with Lissa and Frederick sitting on one side of the campsite turned off by the dinner we had so graciously provided.

"Gods you couldn't spear us an animal that you know normal people eat? I mean you guys are totally destroying the food chain here!" Lissa's statement was only answered by the munching of meat.

"Lissa if you look in my rucksack there should be some dried fruit and bread" I replied after I gulped down a large portion of meat. "Just don't expect it to be the greatest meal"

At this she quickly flung her share of meat towards Chrom, who caught it without looking up from his meal and hurriedly made her way towards my rucksack. Pulling out various bits of dried fruit and bread in which she greedily gulped down.

"Twhanks alwot Woland! This is grweat stuff!" She said as her mouth was filled to the brim with fruit.

Frederick stared at her enviously and he began to take small bites out of his share of bear meat, with each bite his face getting even more pale.

 **XXXX**

 _She stood there in the centre of the arena, her flowing blonde hair and her shining emerald eyes and her gentle smile the very picture of innocence. She motioned towards me giving off a gentle laugh. However, when I got closer, this picture of innocence was broken as a sword pierced her heart. And her pure white sash she always wore around her waist slowly turned into one of crimson red._

Swiftly bolting upwards hand to my sword and quickly looking at my surroundings. No longer was I in the arena, but a small campsite. Chrom and Lissa were both asleep and Frederick looked towards me at my sudden actions. I waved him off and walked out of the camp, wiping away the cold sweat that stuck to me. Placing a hand on my crimson sash tied around my waist taking deep breaths to try and calm my nerves. _Mari_

"Bad dream huh?" Robin said as he stood next to me gazing out at the night sky.

"Yeah something like that. What about you?" I replied following his gaze upward.

"I don't have dreams" he said solemnly "Good dreams, bad dreams I just can't do it, perhaps its because of my lack of memories. But not being able to dream terrifies me"

Looking away from the star filled sky I turned towards Robin who was gazing at the ground fists clenched. I placed a hand on his shoulder, getting him to look at me.

"Well I think you'll start dreaming once you start making new memories" I motioned towards the campsite. 'I mean it won't be difficult with that lot around" I joked, causing Robin to give off a small smile.

"Thanks for that Roland, that actually takes a lot off my mind" I gave his shoulder a tight squeeze and we returned to our star gazing in silence.

 **XXXX**

The second time I suddenly awoke that night wasn't because of the nightmares that plagued my sleep. But because it was quite, a little to quite. Looking around the campsite the small fire now becoming embers, Robin, Frederick and Lissa were sleeping soundly. Chrom however was at the edge of the campsite hand to the hilt of his sword and staring into the eerie forest. Pulling myself up, I strapped my sword to my belt and joined him.

"You felt it too didn't you Roland. This eeriness" he said still not taking his eyes off the forest.

"Yeah, its too quite even the cicadas have stopped their buzzing" I stated, also placing my hand on my own blade. Giving off a large yawn and rubbing sleep from her eyes Lissa also joined us at the edge of the campsite.

"What's wrong you guys?"

"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you Lissa. But something is…"

"Off" I finished for him

"Umm define 'something' "she said worry creeping into her voice

"We don't know but we should check it out right Chrom"

"Indeed" and with that we slowly made our way into the forest, Lissa following close behind.

"Hey, you two aren't leaving me behind!"

We travelled further into the forest the eerie silence hanging in the air like a fog, the crunching of our boots on the ground was the only sound to be heard.

"This isn't right" I said once we reached a small clearing "The birds aren't singing anymore and the cicadas have stopped as well"

And with some sort of divine timing the earth beneath us began to shake violently causing Lissa to fall over.

"Aaah Chrom! What in Naga's name is going on!" She yelled as she clutched his leg

"I don't know Lissa but stay close to me" He yelled back helping Lissa to her feet.

The earth shook violently again and some nearby trees uprooted and collapsed.

"Guys we got to get the hell out of here!" I shouted trying to steady myself with the constant shaking.

"Right! Lissa stay close"

And with that we sprinted off back towards the campsite, parts of the earth began rising beneath our feet causing us to stumble multiple times. _Damn its like we're in an ocean_

Another tree was uprooted nearby causing me to trip over its smaller roots, slamming me to the ground. Chrom and Lissa quickly turned back towards me but apparently the earthquakes weren't enough for the gods and soon I was rocketed skyward as the ground I was on was raised towards the sky.

"Go! Don't worry about me I'll catch up!" I shouted to the two below me. Lissa looked like she was ready to argue but was soon cut off as a stream of lava quickly escaped from were the earth was split. At that sudden turn of events Chrom grabbed Lissa by her arm and ran out of view as they avoided the lava flow.

"Yeah I'll catch up somehow" I dryly remarked to no one in particular. I quickly pulled myself to my feet and looked around trying to find a safe way down that didn't involve falling to my death or burning alive. Spotting a large oak that was uprooted and leaning precariously over the edge towards to where the ground should be. That was probably my safest option to get down. However, the earth soon began crumbling away beneath my feet. _Oh for the love of!_

And I took off at a fast sprint towards the oak, trying to out run the crumbling earth. Sprinting hard I managed to dive onto the tree before the ground completely crumbled away.

"Ha-ha! Made it, take that you-" My bragging, however, was cut short as the tree I clung to now started falling to the ground below.

"AH! Crap! Crap! Crap!" Landing with and monstrous thud I flew off the tree and rolled down a hill until I came to a stop. I tried taking deep breaths only for it to come out as wheezing. _Ah gods damn it that's probably my ribs._ I gingerly poked the right side of my body only to receive a sharp pain in return. _Ah yep definitely my ribs_

Struggling to pull myself up I spotted Chrom and Lissa in the distance and painfully made my way over to them.

"Ah! Roland your okay you're not hurt to badly are you" Chrom said between large gasps for air.

"Eh I may have taken a tumble and broken a rib or two, but I'm fine. What about you two?'

"We're fine but-" Chrom started to speak only for him to be cut off by Lissa.

"Uh guys but what is that!" she said while pointing towards the sky. I didn't notice it at first but the sky seemed to be shimmering? Like when someone drops a pebble into a pond.

Soon multiple sets of black shadowy hands emerged from the shimmering portal and not long after three bodies flew out of the sky slamming into the ground with a dull thud. They soon rose up and stumbled towards us.

"Uhh Chrom" Lissa said worry staining her voice.

"Get behind us Lissa" Chrom commanded as he ripped Falchion from its sheath. I too pulled out my blade and readied myself despite my body screaming in protest. At this noise the three shadowy figures launched themselves at us, they moved incredibly fast despite how they stumbled around before. One shadow came at me with a large downstroke of his axe, I quickly dodged to the side and shoved my blade through its side, killing it. It stood motionless for a moment before turning its head towards me, its red eyes shining brightly as it swung its axe again. I could barely duck in time as I pulled my sword from its body, trying to parry the blow. Knocking it off balance I jumped in the air bringing my sword to to his head, cleaving it in two. The shadow gave an unhuman screech before disintegrating into nothing. _Just what the hell are these things, clearly their not human!_

I turned to see that Chrom killed the shadow creature as well panting heavily. I opened my mouth to say something but Lissa's screaming cut me off. Turning in the direction of her scream, Lissa was backed into a corner by the final shadow. Its sword raised above its head ready to deliver the killing blow.

"Lissa!" Chrom shouted before quickly sprinting towards her. I followed suit but a sharp pain from my ribs caused me to stumble and fall. Desperately looking up I saw that the shimmering portal in the sky shone again, and soon a man clad in blue and wearing a mask dove out of it and landed in front of Lissa, blocking the blow with his sword just as the shadow brought it down.

"Ugh little help!" He grunted out as he struggled to maintain the block.

"…Right!" Chrom responded by slashing Falchion across the shadows back causing it to rear its head up and screech. At this the masked swordsman jumped back and then quickly dove forward slicing the creature clean in half, the shadow giving one last screech and soon disintegrated.

"Well, that was quite the entrance back there, what's your name?" Chrom said as he sheathed Falchion. To this the masked swordsman only stayed silent in response.

"Milord! Milady! Roland are you alright!" Frederick called out as he rode in with Robin saddled up behind him. Robin quickly dismounted and helped me to my feet. I gave a small nod in gratitude, placing a hand to the side of my body trying to ease the pain.

"Lissa and myself are fine but Roland may have broken some ribs in all that chaos" Chrom replied.

"Are these types of creatures common in Ylisse?" Robin inquired to which Chrom shook his head.

"I've never seen these creatures in Ylisse, I can promise you that"

"Then it seems we have come away with our lives intact. Thank the gods…" Frederick giving a sigh of relief.

"No Frederick! You should be thanking the masked man who saved me. Without him I would have been a-" Lissa turned to the masked swordsman to emphasise her point, but…

"Hey hang on a second where did he run off to!" They looked around the area and indeed the masked man had vanished. It turns out I was the only one who noticed that he slipped away when Frederick and Robin announced their arrival, but I didn't mention this to the others. It helped give the masked stranger an air of mystery I humorously thought to myself.

"What's so amusing Roland?" Robin asked, I just waved It off.

"Nothing its just those shadow creatures are falling out of the sky again so we should prepare ourselves" I pointed to the shimmering portal that had begun spewing out those creatures until it slowly closed itself, returning the night sky to normal. To this Frederick agreed.

"Indeed we shall put these creatures to the blade. However, we must be cautious as we know nothing about this enemy"

As we prepared ourselves for the oncoming battle, a large number of those creatures sauntered out of the forest that was set ablaze behind them, noticing our presence they broke out into a charge at unbelievable speeds. In turn Chrom, Robin and Frederick rushed towards them shouting battle cries as they went. I went to sprint after them but a collapsed to my knees again, the pain in my sides almost flaring up once again.

"Roland!" Lissa shouted as she rushed to my side staff at the ready. "You shouldn't push yourself to hard… maybe you should stay out of this battle" I gave Lissa a hard stare and then looked to the others fighting the shadow creatures.

"No I will fight. And I will push myself to my absolute limit. I'm not one to sit on the sidelines while others fight on" I ruffled her hair and tried to give my best smile.

"Besides can't you just mend my ribs up?" At this she shook her head sadly.

"Yeah I can, but there's only so much a staff can do.

"What do you mean?" Giving her a confused look, weren't staffs able to mend all wounds?

"I mean that a staff on its own can only heal shallow cuts and bruises. I'll need a healing ointment to be able heal deeper cuts and broken bones. That or an elixir could help you" She stated. I was still confused by the statement but I'll ask more about it later.

"Hmph. Fine but can you heal me just enough that it can block out the pain" I grunted, she gave me a hard stare before lowering her head and giving out an exasperated sigh.

"Ugh fine. You know, you remind me of Chrom. Always being so reckless when it comes to helping others" and so she started to heal the bruising around my broken ribs. The healing light felt like warm water gently flowing around my body and I could feel the pain ebb away.

"Thanks for this Lissa. I owe you one" Giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"You can thank me by coming out of this alive! Now go on they need you" With that I gave one last look towards Lissa and sprinted off towards the sounds of battle.

As I ran towards the others the sounds of hooves rumbling along the ground caught my attention, turning back I saw a woman with red hair and armour mounted on a horse call out to Chrom and the others.

"Captain Chrom! Wait up! I'm here to help you guys… ah gods be damned I should have joined those four on their little trip. At wouldn't have to deal with him" muttering that last part so one else could hear her.

"Um you there! On the horse could I get a ride to the battle with you" I called out, snapping her out of her daze.

"Ah what. Who are you? And hell no" she called back as she rode up to me.

"I'm Roland and I'm here with Chrom and the others and what do you mean by 'hell no' "I replied frustration tinging my voice.

"What else does it mean idiot; you have two legs use em to run to the fight yourself"

I opened my mouth to give a snarky reply. However, a man burst from the nearby tree line. He had long azure hair and he wore quite formal attire despite being far from any form of castle or town. Wielding an elegant bow, he noticed myself and the red haired woman.

"Ah there you are milady! Long have I searched for you hoping our paths crossed again and-" He also spoke quite elegantly and I noticed his voice had a thick accent common in certain areas of Valm. However, the woman ignored him and quickly turned to me and offered her hand.

"Ah hells not this buffoon again. You there! you said you want a lift into the battle well c'mon let's go before he really gets going" She spoke quickly constantly looking between me and the approaching archer who was still in the middle of his monologue.

"Uh right?" and I took the outstretched hand. Despite her small stature she easily pulled me up onto the horse and without so much as a warning we rocketed off towards the sounds of battle, leaving the archer in the dust.

"I never caught your name before!" I yelled out to the rider as the wind whipped around us. I had to wrap my arms around her waist just so I wouldn't fall off.

"The name's Sully! And your stop is coming up now!' she replied as she speared a nearby shadow creature that foolishly tried to stop the charging rider. I gave my thanks and jumped off the speeding horse, rolling to soften my landing. The pain in my sides flaring up, but at least it was bearable now thanks to Lissa. Coming up from my roll next to Robin as he was busy slicing at the sides of one of the creatures, I used my momentum and dove forward driving my sword through its chest killing it.

"What took you so long?" Robin joked as he moved to my side in a defensive position.

"Ah you know, taking in the beautiful sights of this Ylissean countryside and its wonderful animals that it has living in it" giving him a small smirk, in which he gave a chuckle in response. With our banter out of the way we turned our attention to the scene before us.

"Roland see those ruins over there" he motioned with his tome towards the multiple ruins scattered everywhere, I gave a nod. "The leader of those creatures is holed up in one of those ruins, if we can take it out the rest should easily follow"

"Those things have a leader? I find that hard to believe" I deadpanned.

"Me too, but we saw one with a large axe pointing towards us and the others seemed to follow its command. So yeah they have a leader"

"Well what are we waiting for let's get moving" Running to the nearest ruin with Robin following behind me in close pursuit.

We didn't have to search very hard as we soon found a shadow creature wielding a giant axe, and as soon as it saw us let out a deafening roar and charged at Robin and myself.

Robin quickly fired off multiple lighting bolts that pierced its leathery skin causing smoke to rise from the wounds. However, this did not stop its raging charge and we had to dive out of the way as it swung its axe into a nearby wall causing it to collapse. I jumped in and swung at its legs to try and slow it down, each slice caused more black smoke to appear. It quickly swung its arm back slamming my chest as I flew backwards into a crumbling wall.

"Roland!" Robin cried out as he jumped up and plunged his sword into the creatures' shoulder, tightening the grip on his blade a brilliant yellow pierced through the creatures' arm as electricity sparked around the wound. Dropping its axe, it grabbed Robin with it's free hand and flung him hard towards me. Rolling along the ground Robin, slammed into my chest causing me to cough up a worryingly large amount of blood. Helping each other up we stood our ground as the creature stumbled towards us, its early speed lost due to all its wounds.

"How you holding up?" Robin asked wiping blood away from his brow.

"Just spectacular…" I coughed "Listen do you think you can do that electric sword thing again?"

"I could probably pull it one more time, the magic and concentration needed to do something like that is damn exhausting"

"Eh well good enough I suppose. Just follow my lead and you'll know when to do it" and I rushed off towards the hulking beast. Slashing my sword at its legs once again, careful to avoid its flailing arms. Eventually with enough strikes the creature fell to its knees.

"Robin! Now!"

Robin quickly charged past me, his sword coated with lighting. Jumping into the air with a battle cry, small petals of flames seemed to surround him as he brought his sword down in a powerful strike.

"You're finished!"

And with a small burst of fire and lighting and one last screech the creature was obliterated.

We collapsed to the ground after that, the only sounds to be heard was us gasping for air. And either out of post battle adrenaline or just from how exhausted I was, I burst into a fit of laughter, Robin looked over to me like I was a madman but my laughter soon infected him too and we both couldn't stop ourselves.

Finally, this long night of men and monster falling out of the sky seemed to be over.

 _ **Authors Notes: Oh boy and I thought the last two were long, gotta say though I really enjoyed writing this. In-game we get another cut scene where 'Marth' gives a vague warning about the future, but since this is a long chapter I'll leave it for the next one. Anyways, hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time!**_


	4. The Capital

_**Interlude: The Capital**_

Recovering from our mad laughing fit amidst the crumbling ruins. Robin sat up wiping away the tear of mirth at the edge of his eyes still giving off small chuckles.

"Oh gods we are madman. C'mon we should get out of here, the others should be done by now" Standing up brushing the dust and dirt off his cloak, looking at me expectantly.

"Heh, yeah about that your going to have to give me a hand. I'm totally drained from everything that's happened tonight" I replied still laying on the ground, clutching at my broken ribs. With an exasperated sigh, Robin walked over to me with an outstretched hand which I gladly took and with a grunt heaved me off the ground, wrapping an arm around my shoulder as we wearily trudged out of the ruins.

Once outside we were soon swarmed by the others. With Lissa quickly fussing over my injuries as I still leaned against Robin.

"So our all those creatures defeated?" Robin asked Frederick, as he propped me against one of the ruined walls.

"It appears that they are indeed vanquished. That man over there was able to defeat the stragglers" To which Frederick pointed to the masked swordsman, who slowly approached the group and stopped a short distance away. At that Lissa perked up and looked to the masked swordsman, a small red tinge to her cheeks.

"Oh um, I never got to thank you before… for saving my life back there. So, uh… thank you"

"Yes thank you for saving my sisters life. My name is Chrom, might I ask for yours?" Said Chrom with an outstretched hand towards the mysterious man.

"… You may call me Marth" Stated the swordsman, who stared at Chrom's outstretched hand but he made no move to take it.

"Marth? Like the Hero-King Marth of legend? Well you certainly fight like a hero, who taught you to fight anyways?" Sounding surprised Chrom withdrew his hand back to his side.

"I am not here to talk about me…" He said coldly, while he motioned with his hand to our surroundings. "This world is on the brink of a great calamity, and tonight was just a prelude of what is to come. You have been warned." And with that he strode off back towards the forest, soon disappearing into the tree line.

"The worlds on the what now? Hey get back here!" Lissa called out confused.

"It seems he's not one for conversation" Said Robin as he continued to gaze at the tree line to where Marth walked off to.

"Hah you got that right-" I replied giving a small chuckle only for it to be cut off by a sharp pain in my side, as I coughed up bits of blood. "Ah damn it, it hurts to laugh" With that everyone's attention was on me. Lissa quickly rushed back to my side staff in hand as she did her best to lessen the pain, everyone else crowded around us.

"You idiot! You just had to run off and break more of your ribs, didn't you!" Lissa said with a serious tone in her voice. To which I could only give a sheepish smile.

"If I might be so bold milady, I believe I have something to can help our comrade in need." With that the well dressed archer step forward and produced a small glass bottle from his pouch.

"Wha- Virion! How long have you had that for, give it here!" With that Lissa snatched the bottle uncorked it and shoved it in my mouth. I gave a splutter as the unknown liquid drained into my mouth. With a large gulp I swallowed whatever the hell I had been given, giving a large cough as Lissa removed the bottle from my lips.

"What the hell was that for! Is this even supposed to do any-" However, I was cut off as I felt like I had been punched in the gut, as all the air in my lungs escaped. A burning sensation filled my body as my ribs literally popped back into place with a loud audible pop.

"Ah! What the hell is going on in my body!" I yelled out, quickly grabbing the side of my body where my ribs were previously broken. _The hell?_

Feeling no pain, I lifted up my shirt to see the large purple bruise previously along the side of my body fade away back to the natural tone of my skin. Pulling my shirt back down I gave Lissa a hard glare.

"Okay now you mind telling now what you just gave me?" Giving a relived sigh and place a hand to her forehead, Lissa gave me a small explanation.

"That Roland. Was an elixir, it can heal almost any wound expect the life threatening ones. Like a sword to the gut…" She emphasised this by stabbing a finger to my stomach. "You're gonna need both a healer and a lot of elixirs to stich you back up. So don't try anything too dangerous next time got it!" I only gave quick small nods to that final statement.

"Well it seems we are all accounted for. I'd also wager we will hear more of this 'Marth' person sooner or later. But for now I'm more worried about the capital." Frederick stated while mounting up on his horse.

"Agreed Frederick. Shepherds lets move out!" Chrom called out. With Robin helping me to my feet and giving me a playful punch it the gut, we began a quick march back to Ylisstol. The stars in the night sky illuminating our path as the forest that was brightly ablaze the same night, now became shimmering embers revealing shattered earth and broken trees.

It turns out, that while the elixir healed my broken ribs and any other smaller injury I had sustained, it didn't restore my stamina. So upon reaching the large gates of the capital the next morning, I was ready to drop dead from just pure exhaustion. My mood changed however, when we walked through the gates and entered the city itself. Many people lined the streets as they went about their daily lives. Dozens of carts and buildings filled to the brim with various items as merchants shouted over one another to promote their wares. The city itself rose up, as a large castle standing proud on top of a hill overlooked the bustling city. Even from the gates, I could see many people coming and going through the castle gates.

"Wow… so this is Ylisstol. I've never seen so many people!" Robin said in awe as he looked around the city bumping into passers-by every so often as he was caught up in this overwhelming atmosphere. Sully and Virion had returned to the Shepherds barracks so it was just myself, Chrom, Robin, Frederick and Lissa. Lissa, without us noticing had somehow managed to do a quick bit of shopping and was carrying two large bags. I asked what was inside to which she said it 'was a surprise'.

"It appears the large earthquake didn't reach the capital and was limited to the forest. Thank the gods the people were spared from that chaos." Frederick said in a pensive tone, to which we all agreed.

"Look everyone! It's exalt Emmeryn come to see us!" An old woman called out. At that the citizens turned their heads and surged forward. The others quickly stepped to the side to avoid the coming crowd, I however was not so lucky. Getting swallowed up in the surge of people I was knocked to my knees, crawling my way through the cheering crowd towards the others. By the time the I got to the others, the crowd had dispersed almost as quickly as they had come. Pushing myself off the ground brushing away the dirt on my tattered shirt grumbling to myself as I joined the others. _Oh don't mind me guys, just getting trampled by the people. No I'm all good._

We resumed our walk towards the castle. As we walked through the town square that had a large fountain within the centre of it. Robin and Frederick were stuck in a deep conversation about the Exalt, I wasn't to interested in that topic so I mostly ignored them. Lissa however, thought otherwise.

"Hey Roland! Didn't you see how beautiful and elegant Emmeryn was?" giving off a bright smile as she practically skipped in front of our small group.

"Oh yeah Lissa, she sure was beautiful" I replied sarcastically, to which annoyingly she gave off a cheerful laugh, not noticing my sarcasm.

"Heh-heh. Thought so! She's also the greatest big sister anyone could ask for!"

"Oh yeah I'm sure she is…" Waving her off, her last words however, finally clicked in my head. Stopping myself and Robin dead in our tracks. "W-Wait! What! If she's your sister that would make you two…" I stammered while pointing my finger back and fourth between Chrom and Lissa.

"The Prince and Princess of the realm yes." Frederick answered, not an ounce of humour in his voice.

"Huh! I mean I knew you had to be nobles of some kind! B-but a prince and-" I trailed off, my mouth agape with shock.

"You said you were 'shepherds'!" Robin shouted also pointing at the two of them.

"Haha A-and so we are… in a manner of speaking. We just attend to large amount of sheep" Chrom said sheepishly, a red tinge to his face as he rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner. Robin stared between the two, before shaking his head so fast I thought it was going to fly off. He gave a deep bow to Chrom and Lissa, that I couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle.

"C-Chrom…" he gave a small cough to correct himself "I mean Prince Chrom! Sire! Princess Lissa. Forgive my dreadful manners!" He stammered out, shooting me a glare as I clutched at my side laughing. Chrom walked over to Robin, his face laced with mirth, as he patted his shoulder.

"Come now Robin, just call us by our names. We've never been ones for titles" as he motioned towards Lissa, who was covering her mouth with the bags she was carrying joining me in laughter.

After our fit of laughter subsided, we continued our walk up the hill towards the castle.

"…So Prince and Princess of the realm huh? That finally explains how Frederick can put up with all the teasing from you two"

"Why yes indeed. Oh, the sacrifices I make for the good of the realm" Frederick deadpanned

At that Chrom and Lissa both gave off small laughs.

"Hey, it looks like we might beat Emm back to the palace. Come on guys hurry up so we can surprise her!" Lissa said as she ran ahead, before turning back to us. "Roland I've also got a surprise I know you'll love too!" as she darted away. _Oh no, something tells me I won't be enjoying this surprise._

The castle itself was also quite vast. With at least two flights of stairs leading up to the higher levels. A large open area with one large tree and a small fountain next to it acted as the castle square. As we ascended the stairs, Lissa ran off from the group again saying how she was 'preparing my surprise' and that I should meet her near the fountain later on. Chrom inquired with one of the nearby guards on duty when Emmeryn was returning to the castle. To which he replied that she got side-tracked helping one of the citizens on her return and would be back shortly. We all agreed to meet in the throne room later, as Chrom and Robin walked up a flight of stairs stuck in deep conversation as Chrom pointed to various parts of the castle, before disappearing from sight. Frederick had gone off to oversee Emmeryn's arrival. Which left me by myself, sitting along the fountain dragging my fingers across its surface. _From someone who slept on the side of a rode half freezing to death in the winter months. To staying overnight in a big castle like this. Heh, strange how fate works. I wonder what Mari would think of this…_

At that thought I placed a hand to my crimson sash, staring solemnly into the water of the fountain. I must have been lost in thought for a long time as I jumped and put a hand to the hilt of my sword when Lissa shouted right into my ear.

"Ah Lissa! What the hell did you do that for!" I shouted

"Well sorry! I kept calling your name but you wouldn't answer so I thought I had to use drastic measures" She said with a mischievous smile, before grabbing me by the arm and pushing me towards the stairs.

"Well you could have just tapped me on the shoulder or something you know" Annoyance in my voice.

"Heh I know but that was more fun now c'mon!" With that she basically dragged me up the stairs and down a corridor before stopping in front of a grand door and pointing to it.

"Well what are you waiting for? Your surprise is in there"

"Something tells me I won't be enjoying this. I'm not one for surprises" I deadpanned

"Oh don't be such a stick in the mud…" With that she quickly opened the door and pushed me inside. I gave a small yelp at the sudden action and turned to say something but Lissa had slammed the door in my face. I could hear her muffled voice on the other side of the door. "Trust me, you will like this surprise! We'll be waiting in the throne room for you"

And hearing footsteps quickly fade away she had left the scene.

Sighing I mentally prepared myself for whatever this surprise was and slowly turned around. When I did I was thoroughly taken back, letting out a small gasp. The room itself wasn't large, looking from the door a small bed was tucked away in the left hand corner, a large window overlooked the plains and farmlands of Ylisse. A book shelf that contained various books with a table and a lamp was covered most of the right hand side of the room. It was also filled with other various necessities. However, those things weren't what caught my attention. A mannequin stood at the centre of the room, a long black coat, with white fur for a collar and a white undershirt was draped over it, it also had brown baggy pants and fresh leather riding boots. On it's arms were a set of leather braces and a small note tucked within one of the bracers. Walking forward I picked up the note and began reading it.

 _Roland_

 _Since it looks like you've been dragged through literally all of the mud and dirt in Ylisse, and also since you were the first proper mercenary I met, I was a bit disappointed you didn't look the part. So I got you these new clothes, don't worry there's more in the wardrobe if you ruin these ones, which you probably will. Since your staying with the Shepherds and need a place to stay, Chrom is giving you this room to stay in don't worry the castle is basically filled with empty rooms. Anyways enjoy this little gift!_

 _Lissa._

I gave a warm smile at the note and placed it on the nearby table and began to un-change. I had only gotten my shirt off before seeing myself in a mirror gazing at my scared body and unkempt hair. _I should probably do something about that_

Searching around the various draws I finally found a pair of scissors. Filling a bucket with water I began snipping away at my wild hair. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't good at cutting my own hair and gave out a large exasperated groan. I kept snipping away for another frustratingly long time before I heard a knock on the door. _Crap must be Robin or Chrom to let me know that I'm late_

Letting out a frustrated sigh I called out to the person knocking. Not bothering to see who entered.

"Yeah, yeah come in" With a small creak the door opened and footsteps entered the room.

"Look if your gonna complain how late I am. I'll like to see you try cut your own hair-" I said in a joking tone as I turned around holding my hair in one hand and the scissors in the other, emphasizing my point to my visitor who was… not who I was expecting it to be. The person before me wasn't Robin or Chrom, hell at this point I was half hoping Frederick had appeared in this persons' place. No, instead a woman clad in a white and green robe that cascaded off her slim shoulders to the floor below was staring at me. Her green eyes so clear they were almost silver went wide in shock, and a rid tinge appeared on her pale face. She also had a strange mark or a tattoo on her forehead, that look almost like the one on Chrom's arm. She opened her mouth to say something but I like an idiot cut her off.

"Ah! Oh… I… um I should have opened the door myself and I…" I stumbled over my words and trailed off and I could feel my face flush with embarrassment "It's just that I was cutting my hair. Or at least I was trying to cut my hair you see! And…" _At this point I just want to sink into the ground!_

The woman however just let out an elegant laugh as she gripped her sides. _That was not the reaction I was expecting._

I only stared at her like an idiot with my mouth agape, as the woman before me shook with laughter. It didn't take long for her laughing to subside as she wiped a tear away from her eyes.

"My deepest apologise I should have announced myself first. But, I thought I heard someone in trouble in this room. But now I see it was just you cutting your hair." She spoke in a calming and serene voice and at those last words she let out a small giggle. I felt my face go more red, before retorting.

"Yeah well I'm not the greatest when it comes to grooming apparently…" gazing at my tattered pants and also at the shirt I discarded in the corner. At that she stepped forward and took the scissors from my hands. And knelt down in front of me her face still had a red tinge to it.

"So it would seem, but allow me. I've had quite a bit of practice."

"Well at this point I don't think I can be more embarrassed. So sure go for it" as I turned myself around so I wouldn't face the woman. We sat there in silence for a while, only the sniping of the scissors could be heard. Every so often she would gently tilt my head to get a better angle and continue sniping. The woman broke the silence as she spun me around to face her, so she could cut away at the front of my head.

"Milord- "I cut her off, flicking off stray pieces of hair.

"Roland"

"Pardon?"

"I'm no noble or lord, so there's no need to give me a title. So Roland… that's my name"

"I see… Well Roland, judging by all the scars that cover your body and the sword you have on the bed. Am I correct to assume you're a mercenary of some kind?" I only gave a small nod in response.

"Well… would you be able to tell me what you think of this kingdom and her Exalt?" That was certainly an odd request, it was something that I've never given thought about.

"Hmm… Well, Ylisse has always been a place that us mercenaries avoided. It's to peaceful to consider any long term plans to work here. We go were there's war and plenty fighting to be had, Ylisse is not one of those places. However, the past couple months have been different with the Mad King 'allegedly' sending Plegian bandits to harass the people…" I put emphasis on allegedly. Everyone on the continent knew he was doing it to start up the Ylisse-Plegia War again, and he was almost succeeding.

"But I don't think the Exalt will retaliate with force. From what I've heard and seen she wants nothing but peace. And sometimes that's the bravest thing someone can do… not fight back and cause needless bloodshed." I gave out a long sigh as I finished my thoughts. "Who ever the Exalt is, I'll like to meet her in person" At that she gave a small laugh, putting the scissors away and brushing off bits of stray hair. I helped her to her feet to which she gave a warm smile.

"Thank you for your kind words Roland. But I must be going now"

"Oh r-right sorry"

I opened the door for her to leave only to see Chrom stand in the centre of the doorway.

"Emmeryn! There you are I've been looking everywhere-" Upon noticing my standing in front of him, Chrom gave me a dumbstruck look. To which I gave an equally dumbstruck look.

"Roland?"

"Chrom?"

At this exchange the woman walked passed me and gave off another elegant laugh.

"It was wonderful talking to you Roland, I hope to cut your hair again!" and she strode off down the corridor, her laughter bouncing off the castle walls.

"Emm! Hold up!" and Chrom ran after her, leaving me staring down the corridor like an idiot.

 _Emmeryn? Wait but that means…_

I gave another frustrated groan feeling my face heat up yet again from embarrassment and closed my door.

 _ **Authors Notes:**_ _Hey everyone sorry for the delay in chapter updates. I wasn't to happy with the chapter as a whole, but I decided to can it and start again, which I'm glad I did. I was thinking of adding a little blurb for each additional Shepherd that Roland meets meaning I would have to do one for Roland himself. So basically giving them a small introduction to those are unfamiliar with them. Well let me know what you think about that in a review, also please let me know what you guys think of this story so far! I think I've ranted on long enough and I'll see you guys next time!_


	5. The Winter's Wall

_**Chapter 3: Shepherd's Advance to the Winter Wall**_

 _Our small group of Shepherd's have finally reached the capital Ylisstol. The capital has a nice peaceful atmosphere to it, which is only amplified by the Exalt Emmeryn's various visits to the city. Robin and myself were also surprised that Chrom and Lissa were the prince and princess of Ylisstol. This new revelation however didn't change our relationship with them, which I'm thankful for, it would be weird to call Chrom 'Sire' and Lissa 'Princess'. That wasn't the only surprise however in store for me however, as Lissa had gifted me new clothing and I also received a surprise haircut from the Exalt herself. Much to my embarrassment, I think I've had enough surprises for the day._

Emerging from my newly gifted room wearing my brand new clothing and a fresh haircut that trimmed back on my messy hair. Noting to myself it still kept its wild appearance and style. _Emmeryn wasn't kidding, she has had a lot of practice._

I made my way down into the castle courtyard. Upon arrival I saw Lissa dragging Robin by the arm towards a corridor. Robin noticing me, tapped Lissa on the shoulder to which she swiftly let go of his arm and excitedly made her way over to me, with Robin following close behind. 

"Wow, now you really look like a mercenary" Lissa said in awe as she circled around me. Giving a small whistle Robin agreed.

"You clean up pretty well for a bandit" Grinning, I gave him a playful punch to the shoulder for that last comment.

"Well enough about me, are we heading to the throne room?" I inquired, to which Lissa gave off an exasperated sigh placing her hands on her hips.

"No silly. You were taking so long we've all gone and seen Emm already, now her and Chrom are in a meeting with the council to talk about recent events and other boring political stuff."

"Which is why Lissa dragged me off to meet the rest of the Shepherd's. That's when we ran into you." Robin finished for her. Only giving a small nod, noting that I had spent way too much time trying to cut my own damn hair.

"It's a shame Roland, I'm sure Emm would have liked to meet you" Lissa said as she began walking back to the corridor her and Robin were heading to earlier.

"Yeah, I'm sure she would of…" Quickly changing the subject "So what are we waiting for let's meet the rest of our Shepherd's" As I tried my best to act excited. _Yeah I am not letting them know about my encounter with Emmeryn any time soon, or more like never._

Lissa lead myself and Robin through various corridors until we eventually came into a large open room with various weapon racks and armour stands scattered around a large clear space, a small mess hall was located to the right hand side of the room and a smaller kitchen and storage room behind it. There were also a few bunk beds here and there. Within the centre of the room Sully was talking to a large muscular man with tied back blonde hair and a slim woman with platinum blonde hair. A noblewoman wearing an elegant white and red riding gear was sitting across from Virion on one of the mess hall benches drinking tea, and I could swear I was hearing the clanking of metal boots, but a quick look around the room revealed nothing.

"So here we are guys! The barracks of the Shepherd's. Make yourself comfortable you two!" As Lissa spun around to us, arms stretched out as she pointed to various parts of the room.

Leaning into Robin's ear and cupping my mouth with my hand so no one could hear me.

"You know. It's not as grand as I thought it would be" I whispered sarcastically

"Heh, perhaps not. But I quite like the humble approach they go for" He jokingly replied

"Hey what are you two whis-" Lissa was cut short as the blonde haired noblewoman quickly tackled her into a hug and spun her around.

"Oh Lissa! My darling jewel! Are you alright? No injuries, cuts, bruises?" She spoke in a proper and elegant tone that was befitting of a noblewoman. As she pulled away from the hug her hands were still on Lissa's shoulders as she scanned her body for any abnormalities. Giving off a cheerful laugh as Lissa removed the woman's hands from her shoulders.

"I'm fine Maribelle! I can handle myself when it comes to battles… but I think I could do without all the bugs not to mention that bear barbeque we had one night" Her face scrunched up and her body squirmed at the memory.

"Bear barbeque! Now that's something Teach could easily cook up with his trusty axe!" The muscular man stepped forward with his booming voice as he clapped Lissa on the back, causing her to stumble forward.

"Oh so you're 'Teach' now are you Vaike? And here I thought you couldn't be taught wits. And no don't even mention or think about having bear barbeque when I'm around!" Lissa replied giving a small pout.

"Ha-ha! Never doubt the Teach… Wait was that an insult!"

At this point the woman clad in purple clothing and silver armour stepped forward hands to her chest.

"B-beg your pardon Lissa, but when will we be seeing Chrom- Ah- I mean the capitan!" She spoke in a soft timid tone, with clear since of worry etched on her face.

"Poor Sumia, she's being concerned about him for days now! I tell you she would have gotten less bruises if she trained with a blindfold on!" Maribelle stated, moving to Sumia's side and resting a small petite hand on her shoulder. Lissa skipped over to Sumia with a bright smile and took her hands in her own.

"Aw Sumia! That's so sweet of you to be worrying over Chrom like that."

"W-Worry? Well I mean of course I would be worried… I mean he's our capitan and our prince! Why wouldn't I be!" She muttered out, a small blush creeping up her face.

"Anyways Lissa, who are those guys ya got over there!" Vaike pointed to us with a large muscular arm, his bombastic voice dead serious for some reason. Robin and myself were mainly off to the side during that whole exchange, as Robin didn't want to interrupt, and not really wanting the attention I kept quite as the others talked. At that Lissa turned to us and comically slapped her forehead.

"Oh duh! How could I forget. Allow me to introduce the newest members of the Shepherd's. the man in the hooded cloak and with the silver hair is Robin, Chrom's appointed him as our new tactician and you should see all the cool strategies he has…" Her hand now swept over to me "And this here in the long black coat is Roland! He's a really good swordsman who might even give Chrom a run for his money" At our introductions Robin gave a wave and a warm smile to the others while I only gave a small nod.

"A tactician and a swordsman who might be able to beat Chrom. Hmm… well Teach still has lots he need to show ya! Starting with this!" And with that Vaike let out an enormous burp, somehow causing the nearby windows to shake. At that comical display I couldn't help but give out a small chuckle, Robin let out a small laugh of his own as he stepped forward and shook Vaike's hand in a tight grip.

"I'm sure we have much to learn in the arts of belching 'Teach'. In any case, it's a pleasure to all make your acquaintance" To which everyone present in the room gave a warm smile. Expect for Maribelle, who looked absolutely disgusted. As she angrily stomped past Robin and myself.

"Vaike that was absolutely abhorrent and disgusting, polluting the air with your plebeian buffoonery yet again! And you Robin! I had hoped you would not encourage that childish behaviour and here I thought you were cut from cleaner cloth unlike Vaike and Roland!" I only gave her a weird look, wondering as to why she would mention me in her rant. As she stomped past me, her rant about us continued out into the corridor.

"Well that was uh…" Robin said in a dumbstruck tone.

"A thing, definitely a thing" I finished for him as we all stared at the corridor, where Maribelle's voice was slowly fading away.

"Aw it's alright you two. Maribelle just takes awhile to warm up to some people" Sumia said as she placed a hand on Robin's shoulder. To which Lissa agreed cheerfully.

"Yeah just give her some time and she'll adore you guys!"

It wasn't long after this that Chrom stuck his head through the door. A confused look plastered on his face.

"Was that Maribelle again?" he said, sticking a thumb behind him as he strode forward.

"Yeah but don't worry about her! So what's happing big brother?"

"Well…" Chrom started to speak before Sumia stumbled forward calling out to Chrom.

"Oh- Chrom… I mean captain! You've returned. I was- I mean we were so worried about you!" she didn't get very far though as she tripped on one of the cracks within the ground and fell forward. Luckily Chrom caught her before she hit the ground, and gave off a large sigh.

"I thought you fixed your boots Sumia? Are they not the correct size again?"

"W-what of course not! Well I mean maybe but…" She started muttering whatever she was going to say under her breath. A large blush creeping up on her face as she realised the type of position she was in, before she straightened herself up and took several steps back from Chrom. With that out of the way Chrom gave a small cough and continued from where he started.

"Alright listen up everyone! In the morning we'll be marching towards Regna Ferox." I perked up at that. Regna Ferox was the only country whose politics that I was actually was interested in and enjoyed. Robin however had a confused look on his face as he spoke.

"Regna Ferox? Is that a country of some kind?" Most of the people in the room gave Robin a weird look, since none of them knew he had amnesia or at least partial amnesia. I Decided to speak up and fill in the knowledge gap for Robin.

"Regna Ferox is a snow filled kingdom just north of Ylisse. A country known for producing some of the world's best and finest warriors." Robin gave me a nod, his face now had a pensive look to it as he thought about this new information. Chrom then continued his speech.

"Correct, and we'll need their strength to fight against this new menace. Usually, the exalt would go in person to request aid. But given recent events, Emmeryn will be remaining in the capital as to not cause any worry among the people. Now this mission is strictly voluntary, so if any of you- "

"I volunteer!" Lissa interrupted him with a cheerful tone. This was followed by Vaike in his loud bombastic voice.

"Hell yeah! Your gonna need Teach on a mission that requires a diplomatic touch!"

"I'll come along too..." I jumped back at the sudden voice next to me, as a man wearing a full set of armour magically appeared next to me. He gave me a hurt look before continuing.

"What? I've been here the whole time you know"

"R-right sorry. I just didn't see you is all. Uh…" I said with a sheepish smile

"Kellam"

"Right sorry Kellam" and I clapped the back of his metal encased back, giving off some sort of deep ring as I did. At that Chrom turned to Robin and myself, giving off a cheeky grin.

"I can assume you two will be joining us as well?"

"Of course I am the new tactician and I am curious to see more of the world" Robin placed a hand on Chrom's shoulder.

"And there's no way you guys are leaving me behind. Your stuck with me for a while now" I said also placing a hand on Chrom's shoulder, to which he gave a warm smile.

"Thanks you two I appreciate it…" to which he turned to Sumia, the only person yet to volunteer to come along. "And what about you Sumia? Are you not going to join us?" At this Sumia stared at the ground, fidgeting with her hands.

"W-well I would like to… but I don't think I'm quite ready for a proper mission yet sir. I'd just get in the way." Chrom walked forward and place a hand on her slim shoulders giving a small squeeze.

"Well you could just stay in the back of the group. And you can just watch and learn if we run into any fights along the way. But keep in mind that some things can only be learned on the battlefield." Sumia didn't really look encouraged by the new information, as she continued to star at the floor.

"I-If you think it is wise captain"

"Just stay by my side and you'll be fine. I promise." Giving her a warm smile, causing a small blush to creep up on Sumia's face again and for her to perk up standing tall.

"Oh, yes! Of course, I would- I mean. Yes sir! I'll do that!" And with that our little meeting was adjourned. Robin decided to head to the castle library and do some heavy reading on Regna Ferox and the other countries of the world, saying something like 'Since I'm the tactician I after familiarise myself with other countries of the world'. Lissa stayed behind with the other Shepherd's to prepare for the coming march. And I decided to head back to my room, as my exhaustion from the previous night was starting to kick in again. Despite the comfortable bed that I wasn't accustomed too, my dreams were still plagued by the nightmare of the arena and Mari. Even so, when morning came I was raring and ready to go for our two-day march to Regna Ferox.

 _ **XXXX**_

That morning, I met up with the rest of the Shepherd's just outside the city gates. All of us went through our final preparations, and those who were ready before hand were loading various items onto the small convoy we had with us. Eventually Chrom stepped forward gathering everyone's attention.

"Is everyone ready? We have a long march ahead. So Shepherd's move out!" With that our march began. I mainly stuck to the back of the convoy not really going out of my way to start conversations, I did talk with a few members here and there but they were brief and to the point conversations. We didn't make it very far into our march when we heard the thundering of hooves behind us, and soon a man in viridian armour rode up besides the convoy.

"H-Hey why didn't you guys wait for me! And how come I was the last to hear about this expedition north?' he panted out as he dismounted his horse giving its neck a rub down. Lissa spoke out with a confused tone in her voice.

"Stahl? Wait… wasn't Vaike supposed to tell about our morning march…" To which she turned to Vaike, frustration in her voice. "Seriously! You would forget your own name and start naming yourself Teach if you didn't say it constantly!" Vaike gave a loud laugh as he scratched his nose in an embarrassed manner

"Naw c'mon Lissa. The Vaike never forgets… I just can't remember some things is all"

"Speaking of which did you remember your axe this time. With your track record you'll forget it before the day ends" Stahl said stepping forward waving a finger at Vaike, to which Vaike whipped out a large axe which was taller than Lissa herself.

"Shuddap! Training sessions don't count and besides, Teach has it right here see!" and once again we continued our march northwards.

I was talking with Robin at the front of the convoy before Stahl walked up towards us, a friendly smile plastered on his face.

"Sorry to interrupt you guys, but I thought I would introduce myself…" he gave a small cough as he continued. "I'm Stahl, a Ylissian knight. It's a pleasure to meet you both" Robin gave a smile and took Stahl's hand in a tight handshake.

"Likewise Stahl, I'm Robin. Chrom's assigned me as the new tactician"

"Roland" I said giving him a wave. At our introductions Stahl gave Robin a pensive look before speaking out in a surprised tone.

"Ah! Of course Miriel said that we had gained a new tactician… oh Miriel is one of our mages, she'll catch up with us soon enough she said something about performing an experiment or something like that." He said scratching at his messy olive hair. We continued our conversation for a short while before a monstrous rumble came from Stahl's stomach.

"Ahaha! Whoops I had to skip out on my second breakfast so I'll see you guys later!" With a smile and a wave, he made his way back to the end of the convoy. We returned with a wave of our own as I spoke out with a joking tone.

"You know in my travels around Ylisse I heard the Shepherd's were a highly trained group of people. I definitely didn't expect them to be so…"

"Unorthodox?" Robin suggested

"Yeah I guess you could say that" We continued on in silence for a while longer. However, Robin broke it as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Roland is everything alright with you? You seemed pretty… quite when meeting the others." Glancing his way and seeing a concerned look in his eyes, I gave out a low sigh.

"Yeah I'm fine it's just that… It's been awhile since I've been with so many people. Well at least ones who aren't trying to kill me that is" I tried to lighten the mood by making a joke. However, that backfired as Robin just gave my shoulder a tight squeeze.

"Hmm alright. You're a close friend so it can be concerning when I see you so distant to everyone. But just take it easy and you'll be fine." I gave him a warm smile before playfully punching his shoulder; it was touching that he thought of me like that. It was something that I was unaccustomed too, others being concerned for me.

"Don't worry about me tactician, I'll warm up to everyone else eventually but don't expect it to happen anytime soon" I replied in a joking tone. Perhaps a part of me wants to be more open to everyone else. However, _I guess I just unknowingly distance myself from everyone so I won't get… attached._

We continued our march long into the afternoon a cheerful and fun atmosphere enveloping everyone despite the consequences if we failed our mission.

 _ **XXXX**_

The second interruption that our march had to stop at wasn't because a member of the Shepherd's had caught up with us. It was because a large swarm of those shadowy creatures had control of a large bridge over a swiftly flowing river, stopping us from crossing over.

"Gods, have the Risen made it this far north?" Chrom said in a concerned tone as he stepped forward Falchion in hand.

"Risen, is that the name of those creatures?" Robin inquired in a curious tone, to which Chrom gave a nod.

"Indeed, we needed a name for them and so the council decided on Risen…" Chrom then turned back towards the rest of the convoy. "Everyone remember who we face against! And be cautious in your approach!" At that Robin stepped up next to him raising his voice so the others could here him.

"Listen up everyone! I have a strategy in mind so follow it carefully and we should all come out alive!" With that Robin gave us a brief on what he had planned for this threat, and soon with our positions memorised Chrom gave a rallying cry to which we all responded with our own and marched out to meet the enemy. For Robin's plan to succeed we had to wipe out the Risen on our side of the shore, as such we had all fanned out fighting the Risen in pairs of two or in small groups. I was running alongside Vaike when a Risen swordsman jumped out of the nearby tree line with a jumping slash. Rolling out of the way I came up behind it and slashed my sword across its back, it gave out an inhuman screech before being interrupted by Vaike rushing forward and delivering a devastating punch to its face, caving it in and causing it to disintegrate.

"Haha! That's what happens when you mess with the Vaike! And his apprentice." He laughed out in a booming voice. I just gave him an odd look, before I noticed one crucial thing and gave out a low sigh.

"Uh Vaike. That was cool and all where you killed it with a punch but where's your axe?" Pointing to his empty sheath on his back.

"Whadda mean Teach has it right here…" He went to reach for it on his back but his hand grasped at air. "Huh! Where did my axe go I had it just a minute ago!" He tried to turn his head to glance at his own back, but he ended up just comically spinning around in circles. I was going to say something but suddenly another Risen burst out of the tree line driving its lance towards Vaike.

"Vaike! Look out-" I called rushing towards the Risen. Suddenly a fireball rushed past me exploding against the Risen killing it. I turned around to see who Vaike's saviour was thinking it was probably Robin, however I was greatly mistaken. A redheaded woman with small glasses on her nose strode forward hand outstretched and still burning from the recent casting. She wore a large black witches hat and a dark cloak and besides her Vaike's giant axe was levitating spinning slowly in the air. With a flick of her hand the axe shot forward, I gave a small yelp as I dodged out of the way, Vaike however caught it in one hand, causing a deep 'thunk' as he sheepishly scratched his nose.

"Hehe thanks for my axe Miriel!"

"I was curious to see what matter of ignoramus had mislaid this weapon. Now I see it was you Vaike…" Miriel spoke in a cold calculating voice as she adjusted the glasses before she began to walk away "Perhaps next time I'll fasten that axe of yours to your hands. Permanently" To which Vaike responded with a nervous laugh. As Miriel strode past me she gave a calculating stare before walking off.

"And you brigand, see to it you are properly guarded for any surprise attacks that these fell creatures might implement" And with that she strode off across the battlefield causally flicking fireballs to any unfortunate Risen that crossed her path. _Seriously does everyone think I look like a bandit?_

I turned to Vaike and gave a small cough so I could get his attention.

"Well now that we got your axe back thanks to that… wonderful woman, we can get back to the fight. Come on!" And I rushed off to the battlefield, Vaike in close pursuit axe in hand.

It wasn't long before we cleared out our side of the river. We regrouped briefly so Lissa could heal any injuries and then marched off towards the bridge. Robin's plan was similar to the one he implemented in Southtown, this time however he had more options to work with. Vaike, Chrom and myself were at the forefront of the group. Robin, Virion and Miriel were just behind us providing ranged attacks so by the time the Risen got to us, they were already weakened. Robin would also be rotating to the front if any of us had suffered any serious injuries. In the back of the group we had our cavalry waiting, ready to charge once we made a gap within the Risen ranks. It wasn't long before we were on the bridge slashing away at the Risen, arrows and magic flying overhead as we slowly advanced across the bridge. We only got halfway across before the number of Risen increased forcing us to slowly retreat. _Damn at this rate would be easier just to fling us across!_

At that train of thought however a stupid but brilliant idea came into my head.

"Robin switch with me! I have an idea that might give us the advantage!"

"What do you have in mind!" He called back once we swapped places, I slowly made my way towards Miriel before I answered him.

"You'll know it when you see it!" Making my way towards Miriel who was rapidly firing off her magic, I grasped her by the shoulder.

"Miriel, you know how you were magically lifting Vaike's axe before. Can you do that with a person" She gave me an odd look as she adjusted her glasses before answering.

"Well it is strictly hypothetical but with enough innate magical essence one could theoretically- "I put my hand up to interrupt her, giving out a frustrated sigh.

"Can you repeat that like a normal human" to which she gave out her own sigh before she repeated herself.

"Yes I can do it. But I'll need time to concentrate so I can safely guide the person" _Yes this might work after all!_

"Great! But don't worry about the guidance thing. I just need you to fling me over the bridge to the other side…" She opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her again. We didn't have time to go over safety measures. "Miriel can you do that" I stated firmly as I grasped her slim shoulders. To which she replied with a nod, pulling out a green tome from her pouch and holding it to her chest. This caused it to illuminate a soft green glow, soon she placed a small hand to my chest before speaking.

"I can't maintain it for long, the magic will quickly fade away once you're in the air" I only gave a small nod in response. With that she she raised her hand skyward, and I began to float off the ground above the others. _Oh gods this is a terrible idea_

I looked down to Miriel who began to tremble with the effort of maintaining the spell, I gave a thumbs up towards her signalling that I was ready. With that she thrust her hand forward which caused me to rocket off towards the other side of the bridge. As I flew over the bridge I felt whatever magical spell that was holding me up soon disappear and I fell towards the ground. _Crap! Crap! Crap!_

Hitting the ground hard I began to roll so I could bleed off any momentum, and soon I came to a stop. Giving a grunt I heaved myself off the ground and brushed off the dirt on my coat.

 _Wow that actually went better then expected._

My minor victory however was cut short as a loud roar echoed behind me, whipping around a large Risen wielding an axe charged forward and brought it down in a heavy slam. Rolling out of the way, unsheathing my blade I stared down my new opponent. _Never a dull moment._ Taking a deep breath, I charged at the Risen.

"Alright let's see what you got!" I roared as I slid across on my knees as the Risen swiped at me with his axe, using the momentum I stabbed my blade through its arm causing black shadows to ooze out of the wound. With its free hand the Risen pushed me to the ground and began to swing its axe down towards me. Rolling along the ground I managed to avoid getting cleaved in half as it repeatedly slammed its axe into the ground. As the Risen raised its axe above It's head I used this moment to slice my blade across its legs, causing it to stumble back. Quickly jumping to my feet and taking several small steps back I used this opportunity to quickly glance back towards the others. The amount of Risen had increased and they were pushing the Shepherd's back towards the other end of the bridge. _Damn I need to end this now and help them._

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to re-focus my breathing. When I opened them the Risen was staring my down with its crimson eyes and with a mighty roar charged at me once again. Settling into a defensive position, I didn't take any action to dodge the easily avoidable charge. With a deafening roar the Risen brought down its axe. I dodged at the last second, causing its axe to make a small cut across my arm. Diving forward and with a roar of my own, a small black flame ignited across the tip of my sword as I sliced across its midsection.

"Its over!" I felt my sword easily cut through its waist, as if I was cutting water itself. With one last screech the large Risen disintegrated. Exhausted I planted my sword in the ground to steady myself quickly catching my breath. Gazing down at my curved blade with a curious look on my face. _Okay that was new… did my sword just ignite in flames? Damn it I don't have time for this the others need my help._

Questions for later. Now I had to help my comrades. Rushing towards the Risen on the bridge I began slashing away at them. Luckily they were distracted by the others so they didn't notice my presence until it was to late. Soon enough a large gap was made and Frederick, Sully and Stahl charged forward, spearing and slashing away at any Risen in their path. After killing the ones on the bridge they galloped out onto the plains and killed off any stragglers.

Taking a deep breath and sheathing my sword, I leaned up against the bridge. Soon everyone gathered up around me with wide eyes and smiles. Robin walked up giving a deep sigh before playfully punching me in the shoulder.

"When you said you had an idea, I didn't think it would involve you flying over a bridge."

"It was more like guided falling…" I jokingly replied, before I searched in the small crowd for Miriel. "How's Miriel holding up?" concern seeping into my voice. At that the redhead stepped forward, small beads of sweat covered her brow.

"My magical essence at the current moment appears to be drained and I have also appeared to have exhausted most of my physical stamina. However, I will recover before the day is over." She replied in her calculating tone. Aside from her heavy breathing she appeared to be okay.

"That's good to hear, just don't push yourself" giving her a small smile. Soon Frederick and the others returned as he gave his report to Chrom.

"Milord, all the Risen in this area have been wiped out."

"Gods if they've made it this far north that means…"

"No road or path shall be safe in the foreseeable future. A worrying sign Milord." Frederick said with concern in his voice and worry etched onto his usual stoic face. And when Frederick broke out of that stoic mould, you knew something was wrong. Despite having to stop to deal with smaller Risen threats along the way, we made good time on our march. Frederick informed us that we would reach the Winter's Wall or more commonly known as the Longfort by morning. That night, as we all sat around the campfire having a vegetable stew that Stahl whipped up. The conversation unsurprisingly and much to my embarrassment fell to my idea of flying over the Risen. Which caused everyone's spirits and moral to be lifted.

The following day we had begun our march early and so now we were only a few hours away from the Longfort. The temperature had begun dropping and some of the Shepherd's begun pulling out long fur coats to keep themselves warm. I was walking in the back of the convoy again but this time Sumia had unknowingly joined me, face downcast looking at the ground as she shuffled her feet. Soon she tripped over and slammed into the ground, letting out a loud groan as her face was buried in the ground.

"Sumia! Is everything alright?" I said, helping her to her feet.

"What yes of course! I mean… no." She gave me a sad look before continuing her shuffle. I stayed a close distance to her just in case she decided to say hello to the ground again.

"You wanna tell me about it?" I asked curiously, to which she gave a sad sigh and a small nod.

"I-I just felt so useless the other day. Staying behind and watching everyone fight."

"I can relate to that" At that she gave me a funny look

"I find that hard to believe Roland. You stay behind while others fight" At which I let a small laugh and raised my hands in mock surrender.

"Well in the past I've had to stay back while others fought due to injuries and broken bones" Sumia let out a sad laugh before gazing down at the ground again. Tears had begun to appear at the corner of her eyes.

"Even if I was fighting with everyone I'm sure I'll just get in the way. I always am." Staring at her I turned my gaze skyward.

"Confidence"

"W-wha- "

"Have confidence in yourself. Have confidence in your abilities. And have confidence in your choices, because no matter how big or small your choices may be. They will always have an affect on others. It's just for you to decide whether those actions will be positive or negative." I placed a hand to my crimson sash at those last words. As I finished speaking I turned my gaze towards Sumia, her silver eyes went wide before a determined flame ignited within them.

"Thank you Roland. You've given me much to think about"

"Don't worry-" I was cut off however by a loud neighing and the flapping of wings, followed by a thud. I rushed to the front of the convoy, Sumia following close behind. Upon reaching reaching the front of the convoy, we saw Chrom lying on the ground rubbing his back as Robin and Lissa knelt besides him and a crazed Pegasus bucking and flapping its wings wildly. I moved up beside Chrom as me and Robin helped him to his feet.

"Everything alright here? How you holding up?" I inquired, Chrom gave a small grunt.

"I'm fine but get no closer. That Pegasus is uncontrollable" However, Sumia did not heed his warning as she strode up towards the bucking Pegasus softly whispering to it. Upon hearing Sumia's voice the Pegasus stopped bucking and stared at her warily. Taking small steps forward Sumia placed her hands on the Pegasus's nose. The creature gave a small huff and wrapped its wings around her, causing Sumia to give off a serene laugh. Chrom and myself could only look at each other in shock, as Robin and Lissa stared in awe at the sight before them. Chrom then turned his gaze towards Sumia.

"H-How did you do that? How did you calm it so easily?" Sumia turned towards us and gave off another laugh as the Pegasus began licking her face.

"Oh It's no big deal capitan, I've always had a way with animals…" turning back towards the Pegasus and began examining under its wing where a large red gash was. "She appears to be injured. So I'll stay behind with her to help her heal you guys can go on ahead, I'll catch up." Chrom took a step forward shaking his head.

"It's quite alright Sumia. We can wait for you."

"Thank you capitan but no. We mustn't delay when the fate of Ylisse hangs on our shoulders" She stated with a newfound confidence in her voice.

"Alright then. But be safe Sumia" replied Chrom with clear concern in his voice. She only gave a nod before returning to cleaning and bandaging the Pegasus's wounds. The convoy began moving again as everyone waved to Sumia as they marched past. Breaking away from them I placed a hand on Sumia's shoulder.

"See, confidence." She gave a warm smile. However, the Pegasus gave me a swift headbutt causing me to stumble back as I shot an angry glare at the cheeky beast.

"I think she likes you Roland" Sumia said with a cheerful laugh.

"Yeah right" and with that I re-joined the others, one hand in the air waving to Sumia and the other to my forehead gingerly poking it to see if it would bruise or not. As I joined Chrom and Robin at the front I noticed Chrom would often turn his head back towards Sumia, his eyes filled with wonder, awe and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on.

 _ **XXXX**_

We were far enough north that soon the landscape was covered in a large blanket of snow. The majority of the Shepherd's had now donned fur cloaks over their usual attire, aside from a small minority that included myself, Robin who had opted to pull up his hood, Chrom who didn't seem bothered by the cold and surprisingly Vaike of all people.

"Brr! F-Frederick! D-Do something about bhis I'm f-freebing ober here!" Lissa grumbled pulling her fur cloak tighter around herself, her teeth loudly clattering together.

"Stay close to my horse milady. She'll give you some protection from the wind." Frederick replied as he too adjusted his fur cloak over his armour.

"Aw c'mon Lissa it isn't so bad. Just think warm thoughts" Chrom said jokingly as he pattered her back. Lissa could only give him a frustrated scowl in return.

"How could you of all people be saying that! You literally have only one sleeve on your shirt!" She emphasised this by pointing to Chrom's exposed forearm. Then she turned to Robin and myself. "Come on you two have to agree with me that this weather is freezing right!?" To which Robin replied with a shake of his head.

"Not really"

"Ditto" I said with a shrug.

"Ugh seriously! You three can't be human!" Lissa continued to complain about our circumstances for awhile, to which we mostly ignored much to her frustration. A few hours later we came across a large fortress covered in snow from top to bottom.

"If this is the Longfort I can see why they call it the Winter Wall" Robin said, curiosity in his voice. Frederick moved up next to him and spoke as he mounted his horse.

"Indeed this is the Longfort. It stretches along the border of Ylisse and Regna Ferox. Now the khans who rule here have gotten quite wary of travellers recently." At that Chrom spoke up as he gazed at the white wall.

"Still we shouldn't mistake their lack of a welcome as open hostility."

"Indeed milord. This simple calls for a bit of diplomacy is all." At that Chrom let at a laugh

"You know negotiation isn't my strong suit like Emmeryn's Frederick. However, I'll try to do my best." Soon Frederick rode off to make a formal introduction to whoever was in commander of this section of the wall. However, when he returned it wasn't the news we were hoping for.

"Milord trouble, the Feroxi guard are mobilising and preparing their defences" As if on cue arrow and spear heads appeared along the small slits of the fortress and a number of soldiers appeared along the top of the fortress.

"Why would they be mobilising. We mean to cause no ill intent"

"I can not say milord. However, loathe I am to trust Robin he should prepare a strategy and see what troops we bring to the battlefield. If there is a need to do so."

'Indeed Frederick, he IS our tactician after all…" Chrom then turned to Robin placing a hand on his shoulder. "So Robin what have you got planned." Taking a deep breath Robin stepped forward and spoke in a calm tone.

"Alright…"

Robin decided to have Miriel and Virion stay with the convoy at a safe distance. As we marched towards the gates of the Longfort. Upon reaching them a loud voiced boomed above us. Looking up a blonde haired woman in large grey armour glared down at us lance in hand.

"Halt! Who goes there!?" Surprisingly her voice was quite masculine. Chrom stepped forward cupping his mouth with his hands so his voice carried up.

"I am Prince Chrom of house Ylisse! I seek an audience with the khans!" To which the woman let out a brief laugh devoid of humour.

"Not another step boy! We've had quite a few 'Ylissean's' try to cross our border. To no avail!" Soon Frederick moved up next to Chrom raising his own voice.

"Hold, milady! We are truly Ylissean's and Exalt Emmeryn has sent us to discuss a matter of mutual interest. It is crucial we speak to the khans."

"Quite brigand! My only interest is keeping you lot out of Regna Ferox! Now begone. I have orders to fell such brigands on sight!"

"Brigand!' Frederick visibly stiffened at that, anger seeping into his voice. "Hold your tongue! We have stated already that you are in the presence of Prince Chrom of the exalted blood!"

"Aye so you have and I'm the queen of Valm! Did I not also mention that impersonating royalty is a capital offense. My my, you sure are a nasty lot of brigands." She spoke in a cocky sarcastic attitude at which I couldn't help but start to get frustrated at. Chrom gave a frustrated sigh. "Gods Emmeryn won't like this…" before he raised his voice to the woman once again. "Please, milady! If you would just list-" He was cut off as the woman raised her voice even louder, calling out to the soldiers.

"Enough I've grown quite weary of this. If you wish to show us the truth of your words, show us in the Feroxi way. Men prepare for battle!" Just as the order had been given lances were swiftly thrown from the fort towards towards Chrom and Frederick. Frederick quickly galloped back towards us avoiding the lances, and Chrom rolled across the ground also avoiding them. However, he was still on his knees when a second volley had already been launched and were heading right for him. Suddenly a white blur zipped passed and Chrom had disappeared and the lances hit the ground with a solid thunk. Quickly scanning my surroundings trying to find Chrom a shadow flew over the Shepherd's and looking up Sumia was riding the Pegasus from before. Chrom was also sitting besides her not a scratch on him. _Thank the gods. That could have been bad_

Continuing to look at them riding in the sky I saw their mouths moving but I couldn't make out what they were saying. They had to dodge another wave of lances before Sumia swiftly brought the Pegasus down besides Robin and myself. Chrom quickly dismounted brushing the snow of his pants before speaking in a frustrated tone.

"Screw it the Feroxi way it is then. Shepherd's prepare for battle! But take them out non-lethally. Our actions here still reflect those of Ylisse." To which we gave our battle cry and readied ourselves for the battle. Robin had swiftly developed another plan to quickly storm the fort from the west side with a small force. While a larger force would head east acting as a distraction, this would allow the small force to defeat the commander which would allow us to quickly defuse the situation we were in. Robin, Chrom, Sumia and myself were part of the smaller force while the others were the distraction. However, before we could go our separate ways Robin's face quickly lit up with a strategy in mind.

"Everyone make sure to pair up with another person. This would make fighting easier both offensively and defensively. Trust in one another and we will carry this day!" With that we waited for the east squad to move out first before making our own charge against the Winter Wall. Running alongside Robin with Chrom a short distance behind us and Sumia circling overhead. My running was swiftly cut off as I ran head first into an iron wall, causing me to land on my backside. Robin stopped besides me and despite our circumstances let out a laugh.

"Ah! What the hell did-" I stared in front of me rubbing my head before I noticed a man in a full suit of iron armour staring down at me.

"W-What the! Kellam since when did you get here!" Staring at him with a dumbstruck look.

"Oh sorry Roland. But I've been here the whole time, I was even jumping up and down waving at you guys." With that he extended an iron hand towards me and helped me to my feet.

'Oh my bad I just didn't see you there your so… quite, even in the armour" I replied in a sheepish tone. Robin stepped up besides wiping tears of mirth from his eyes and clapped Kellam on his iron clad shoulder.

"Eyes up you two we have archers coming our way. Say Kellam would you act as our iron wall against those arrows?" Kellam replied by pulling down his iron helmet which covered his whole face before speaking his voice muffled by the helmet.

"Gladly" And with that we charged forward. Robin and myself stayed safely behind Kellam as the arrows dinged off his armour, soon we were right in front of the archers. Kellam brought up his shield and charged the closest archer, causing the poor man to cry out in surprise as he was flung back by a sudden iron wall. Swiftly jumping out from behind him I swung my scabbard at another archer's face, hitting him with a satisfying crunch. Robin fired off two bolts of lighting that hit the third archer in the chest knocking him unconscious instantly, and then swiftly sidestepping a lance wielded by a short muscular soldier. He then quickly brought the flat of his blade in a powerful downward strike on of the man's helmet, causing a loud ringing noise as the man fell face first into the ground. With the ground archers out of the way Chrom sprinted past arm raised to the sky as he called to Sumia. The white blur that was Sumia rocketed past whisking Chrom off his feet, as they flew to the top of the fort before landing and fighting the soldiers up on top.

"Don't suppose you have a way for us to get up there master tactician?" I asked Robin in a joking voice, as we rushed towards one of the smaller side gates.

"Actually I do" and with that he pulled a large bronze key from his coat, flashing a grin as he did.

"Oh that'll work" We didn't encounter any more soldier outside which made reaching stairs easier. Quickly putting the key in the thick wooden door it unlocked with an audible click. We all heaved it open as it scrapped across the ground, and then quickly ascending the stairs. Halfway up we heard voices behind us, Kellam suddenly stopped and turned to face them.  
"You two go on ahead! I'll hold them off"

"Right just be careful!" Robin replied as we continued to climb. Upon reaching the top I kicked down the door and had to swiftly roll away from a spear strike as knight in large orange armour stood before us. The knight took several steps back before twirling his spear around his as he brought down in a defensive stance. I couldn't help but give a small snort at the flashy displace.

"I will not let you make it to Commander Raimi!" he bellowed in a muffled voice. Robin then stepped forward bringing his sword up pointing it towards the knight as lighting surrounded his other hand.

"Roland go. I've got this" I only gave a nod as I resumed my sprint towards the centre of the fort, hearing the sounds of battle behind me. Chrom and Sumia were also fighting a small group of soldiers but so I had no interruptions, and soon enough I came face to face with the commander of the fort.

"First to the party am I?" I said in between breaths. To which she responded by pointing her lance at me.

"Indeed you are brigand. Now let us see if your words ring true!" with that she let out a roar and charged at me. She gave out swift multiple thrusts which immediately put me on the defensive. I quickly sidestepped her lance as she over extended on the final thrust and hit her with my scabbard across the face. However, she managed to bring her arm up in time to block causing my sword to bounce uselessly of her armour. _Damn it. It's a lot easier when I'm not holding back_

I gave a frustrated sigh before unsheathing my blade, pointing my blade towards the armoured woman.

"Oh fighting seriously now are we? Good" She said in a cocky tone

"Yeah something like that" I replied before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Fool! To let your guard down in the middle of a battle you must an amateur!" With my eyes closed I heard the clunking of metal footsteps as they rushed closer to me. Quickly opening my eyes, I dove forward close enough to the woman that all she could do was stopped dead in her tracks as she stumbled trying to bring up her spear in a block. However, she was too slow. With a roar my sword seemed to ignite in black flames once again as I brought it down across her armour. Stepping back, I sheathed my sword. The woman looking at me confused. Her confusion however turned to surprise as parts of her armour fell off, using this opportunity I jumped to the air and brought my fist down across her face.

"It's over!" with a loud crunch blood erupted from her broken nose, causing her to stumble back and fall to the ground. Breathing heavily, I fell to the ground exhausted using my sword to prop myself up. _Those black flames again. What the hell is going on?_

Soon the other Shepherd's rushed up and surrounded me and the unconscious commander.

"You didn't kill her did you Roland?" Frederick asked

"What? No of course not! She's knocked out is all" As if on cue the woman let out a groan and heaved herself to her feet. A small stream of blood running from her nose.

"So your words are true…" She gazed out to our group before giving a bow "Apologise Prince Chrom. Over the past months Plegian bandits have been invading our border claiming to be Ylissean. We discovered the ruse quite easily, but we have been quite wary ever since." Chrom stepped forward and helped her to her feet.

"It's fine, Plegia has been causing trouble not just in Ylisse's borders it seems. However, we must really seek audience with the khans"

"Don't worry it shall be done immediately milord" she gave a curt bow before calling out to the soldiers around the fort. "Men stand down, these people are true warriors and friends of Regna Ferox. Prepare to open the main gate!" Soon enough all the Shepherd's had gathered at the main gate ready to depart for the capital of Regna Ferox. Despite the sudden surprise attack, no one suffered any serious injuries on both, the Feroxi guard included. _Unless wounded pride counted as a serious injury then I'm pretty sure were still fine_

Giving out a relieved sigh as we passed the gates into Regna Ferox I couldn't help but smile.

 _Gods I love the Feroxi way!_

 _ **Authors Notes: '**_ _ **Lets out the worlds largest sigh**_ _' well that was a big one, don't expect any other chapters to be this long anytime time soon. Condensing two in-game chapters into one whole chapter took longer than I thought so apologies for the wait. Anywho we_ _get a whole lot of introductions and interactions for the Shepherd's this chapter. Roland discovers a strange ability and he gets to punch someone in the face! Victory all around! Let me know on what I can improve upon and what you guys thought about this chapter and about the story as a whole in a review. Thank you guys for taking the time to read my story so far, and I'll see you guys next time!_


	6. Arena Ferox

_**Chapter 4: Falchion of the East and Falchion of the West**_

 _After a two-day march filled with battling Risen getting head-butted by a Pegasus and having to prove our valour to the Feroxi border guard. We finally made it into the winter borders of Regna Ferox. Raimi the border commander that accompanied us towards the capital, said it would take at least another day's march to reach the capital from the border. Following a rather uneventful march through the winding mountain paths we finally came upon the capital._

The capital of Regna Ferox was nothing like the peaceful and serene atmosphere of Ylisse, all of the buildings were quite short and had slanted roofs so the snow didn't pile up on top. The people themselves had a rugged and fierce presence to them as they went about their daily lives. The only grand sceptical to be had was the large arena that stood proudly within the centre of the city. We all stood outside the arena gates, everyone staring up in awe.

"Wow! That arena's huge. But where's the palace?" Lissa stepped up besides me, her eyes wide in awe, she now wore two fur cloaks over here usual clothing as Vaike donated his own cloak to her.

"Your looking at it" I replied my breath creating a mist in the winter air. Lissa just looked at me confused.

"What do you mean?" I motioned with my hand towards the arena before speaking.

"Well the arena IS the palace" Lissa gave me a confused look before turning her gaze at the arena again with a more pensive tone in her eyes. Raimi had returned from speaking with one of the gatekeepers, she stepped forward besides Chrom giving a short bow before speaking.

"Prince Chrom if you would gather your Shepherd's inside the arena. I will go and summon the khan"

"Of course. Well everyone you heard her, lets get inside. The weather isn't going to get any warmer out here."

Large iron braziers blazed fiercely along the stone walls of the reception area, greatly raising the temperature but giving off a cosy atmosphere. The other Shepherd's had left to be shown where the food hall was or a place where they can rest after our long march. The mounts and the convoy was taken to the stables and cargo area within the arena. That only left Chrom, Robin and myself with Raimi. Raimi said a few more things to Chrom before bowing and striding off down one of the corridors. Robin moved up besides him with a curious look on his face.

"Is the khan away or something?" Chrom gave a shake of his head.

"No. Out training I'd assume. The khans of Ferox prefer battle to politics, or rather battle IS their politics." I stepped forward with a grin, clapping Robin on the back.

"And that is why I find every other country so boring. I mean they could at least make their politics more entertaining like Ferox." Chrom only gave an exasperated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You know Roland coming from you that doesn't surprise me." I could only give a sheepish chuckle at that.

"A warrior ruler eh? I can just picture him now. A big rugged brute of a man, broad hairy chest and unparalleled strength. Heheh…" Robin spoke as he gazed up at the ceiling, hand to his chin and a cheeky grin was beginning to form. Suddenly a booming voice spoke up, which snapped us out of our thinking.

"Oh am I now? Please, do go on!" The feminine voice had a touch of masculinity to it. And belonged to a tanned muscular woman with thick blonde hair tied back with a leather strip. She wore red and white iron armour and she carried a large broadsword across her shoulders. Robin let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, Chrom only stared at the woman with agape and I could only try my best to hold back my laughter.

"Wait, you're the!?- Uh, I mean you are the khan… I presume?" Chrom let out a small cough as he tried to compose himself. The woman only let out a bark of laughter before answering.

"Yes I am one of the khans- the East Khan to be exact. My name is Flavia. And I must apologize for the trouble that our border guards caused." She stretched out her hand towards Chrom, who took it in a tight grip.

"No apology needed. I'm confident that we can put that misunderstanding behind us. However, is it true that bandits posing as Ylisseans have been raiding your border villages?" Flavia spat at the ground before answering.

"Yes! Damn those Plegian dogs! We found some documents proving much on one of the corpses. Plegia obviously see's some benefit by raising tensions between our two nations."

Chrom curled his hands into fist, anger seeping into his voice.

"Damn those dastards! I… forgive me your grace that was… inadequately put" Chrom said composing himself once again. Flavia could only let out another laugh before speaking.

"Ha-ha! Damn them and damn delicacy. Here in Ferox we prefer the bluntness of plain speech" I could only let out a frustrated sigh before speaking.

"Then you should probably have a word with the damn border guard." Flavia stepped up besides me and clapped me on the back a large grin on her face.

"Now that's the Feroxi diplomacy we love. Yes! I like you lot already…" She turned to Chrom before speaking with a serious tone. "Now I have been informed on why you have come Prince. But regrettably I cannot provide the aid you seek."

"What? Why not?" Robin spoke in a startled tone.

"I lack the authority" Flavia simple stated. Chrom and Robin both a gave a confused look before Chrom spoke up.

"Forgive us, but we don't understand. Aren't you a khan?" Flavia just gave out a sigh before speaking.

"As I said, I am ONE of the two khans. In Ferox, the khans of the East and the West hold a tournament every three years. The victor of the tournament gets total sovereignty over both sides of the kingdom until the next tournament is held and a new ruler is declared. The West Khan won the last tournament so that oaf decides what alliances to forge." As she finished her explanation, Robin had a pensive look in his eye as he brought a hand up to his chin in thought. Chrom slumped his shoulders disappointment clear in his eyes.

"So we'll receive no aid at all?" Flavia only clapped him on the back before speaking in an excited voice.

"Not so fast Prince, the next tournament is being held tomorrow, and I am in need of champions." Chrom only gave a perplexed look as he straightened himself.

"What does that have to do with us?"

"Well the captain of my border guard says that your Shepherd's are a force to be reckoned with. Especially that one" She pointed a finger to me, I only let out a small embarrassed laugh. "Perhaps you would consider representing the East in this tournament."

"I would assume outsiders have no place in Feroxi tradition?" Robin said hand still to his chin.

"No, on the contrary. The khans and their kin do not fight in the tournament; they choose champions to represent them. Otherwise our land would be in an endless cycle of blood feuds and dead khans. Over time it was decided that outsiders would fight in the tournament. Still this is the first that outsiders have consisted of foreign royalty, still the choice is yours to make." Chrom turned his gaze to the ground, taking his time to think about his answer. I placed a hand his shoulder and with childlike glee gave quick nods. He only gave a sigh in response with a small smile forming on his face. He then turned his gaze to Flavia, determination burning in his eyes.

"There is no choice to be made, East Khan my people are desperate and with both Plegia harassing our borders and the Risen killing the people. If fighting in this tournament is the quickest way to an alliance, we will take up our steel and fight. Flavia let out another bout of hearty laughter.

"Oh ho! I like you Prince Chrom. I do hope you and your comrades survive the tournament. Come I'll show you the arena later but first let us toast and feast to my new champions!" With that she wrapped an arm around Chrom's shoulder guiding him down a corridor, her hearty laughter bouncing off the walls. Robin and myself shared a look before following them, a large grin splayed across my face. That night we joined the rest of the Shepherd's in the dining hall, in which we were treated to a hearty feast. I didn't stay long and chose instead to retire to an early rest, Robin must have had the same idea as he walked besides me towards our sleeping quarters that all the male Shepherd's shared.

"So tactician have any strategies in mind for tomorrow?" I inquired, Robin let out a large yawn and rubbed his eye.

"I managed to get some of the rules from Flavia about the tournament. Apparently you can only choose six fighters to participate in the tournament. One of the fights is designated a captain and the winner of the tournament is decided when either teams captain is defeated." I gave a small nod as Robin finished his explanation

"So have you decided on who were sending out?" I looked at him with hopeful determination, he only stared back before letting out a small chuckle.

"Don't worry you'll be fighting; I wouldn't hear the end of it from you if I didn't put you in" I playfully punched his shoulder before replying.

"Damn straight!"

"Obviously myself and Chrom will also be in. So that just leaves…" He began muttering to himself as he went over who would participate. I just decided to leave him to his planning as we entered the sleeping quarters. _Tomorrow is going to be fun, hopefully the West Khan chose some decent fighters otherwise this'll be a breeze._ At that thought I quickly washed my face with a nearby water bucket, the ice cold water stinging my face. I gazed to Robin who took off his hooded cloak and climbed into a hammock, still muttering to himself. I gave a small smile as I took off my own black coat and boots and climbed into a hammock, sleep quickly taking me.

 _ **XXXX**_

 _Mari stood within the centre of the arena again, her hair blowing gentle in a mysterious breeze. She beckoned for me to come to her and I slowly shuffled my way towards her. I screamed at myself to stop because I knew, I knew once I was near her she would die. Despite my mental protests my body moved on its own, and soon I stood before her. She had her innocent look in her emerald eyes and a cheery smile. Blood soon dripped out of her mouth and flowed down to her white sash, she cupped my face with her hands bringing my own face closer to hers. Her emerald eyes turned pitch black as she spoke._

" _You failed me"_

 _Her white sash now became a crimson red._

I bolted upright, cold sweat sticking to my brow, and quickly viewed my surroundings. However, due to my quick movement I fell out of the hammock I was sleeping in, crashing to the ground.

"Ah crap that hurts" muttering to myself as I rubbed my back. _The nightmares are getting worse._ Placing a hand to the crimson sash at my waist I let out a gloomy sigh.

"I say Roland, that was quite the tumble you had there. Are you alright?" Virion stood before me hand outstretched. Taking his hand and with a grunt he pulled me to my feet.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks Virion." Dusting myself off, I gazed around the room to see that the others were getting ready for the tournament. Virion placed a hand to my shoulder before speaking.

"The tournament is being held in an hour's time so we best prepare." I gave him a small nod in response, and begun preparing myself for the coming battle.

Flavia led us to the large arena in which the tournament was being held, a large crowd had already begun to pile into the stands. Our team of fighters consisted of; Chrom, Robin, Vaike, Virion, Frederick and myself. I noted that most of the fighters Robin had chosen were people who could hit hard and could also take a hit.

"Hey Robin why don't we have Lissa participating? Couldn't she be useful in healing us?"

Robin shook his head.

"Apparently healers can't participate in the tournaments. They take away from the 'action' our something like that."

"I see"

Flavia continued to lead us down a large set of stairs into a darkened corridor lit only by torches along the wall, the cheers and shouts of the crowd echoed around us. Flavia then turned to us hands to her hips.

"Alright you lot listen up I'll go over the rules once again for those who forgot them already" Vaike gave a nervous laugh at that last comment.

"Each team has a designated captain, if one of them either dies with a sword in his or her gut or surrenders the other team wins. Once the captain is eliminated you'll hear a gong and that'll be the end of the tournament, there's also no time limit so fight to your hearts content! Killing is allowed but don't make a show of it and also don't make it slow and painful for the poor sod, we want quick clean kills got it!" At that everyone gave grim nods.

"Alright then go out there and win me this tournament! I have high hopes for you!"

And with that the iron gates in front of us slowly opened, and we marched towards the arena. As we entered the cheers of the crowd exploded in my ears, causing my already racing heart to beat faster. I quickly looked around the arena, my breathing quick and shallow. I stumbled to my knee feeling sick to my stomach as I saw ' _her'_ in the centre of the arena. Two sets of hands grabbed my shoulder and I could hear voice call me. _Idiot get it together!_

I shook my head and saw that Chrom and Robin both had a hand to my shoulders, concern ingrained deeply in both their faces and eyes.

"Roland are you alright!? You went pale and fell to your knee all of a sudden…" Chrom said as he pulled me to my feet.

"…Perhaps we should have someone else take your place if you're not feeling up to it"

I stared at them both with burning determination, placing a hand to the hilt of my sword I stood straight.

"No. I will fight…" I took a deep breath to refocus and control my breathing. "I just felt dizzy all of a sudden that's all, had to much to drink last night." I lied. They both gave me a wary look, the concern still in their eyes but they didn't push the topic any further.

"If you say so… Alright everyone gather around! I have a plan" Robin called. We all huddled together in a small circle arms linked around our shoulders.

"Okay so we only need to protect Chrom and take out their leader, aside from that its going to be a brawl. So pair up with one another and we will carry this day!" Chrom also chose this moment to speak up.

"Even though we are allowed to kill, stay your blade. Our actions still represent Ylisse even in this tournament." We all gave a nod.

"Alright! Let's get this party started!" Vaike bellowed as he placed his hand within the centre of our small huddle, looking at us expectantly. "Aw c'mon you guys! Don't leave Teach hangin!" Robin let out a laugh and placed his marked hand on top of Vaike's. Soon Virion and Chrom placed their hands within the centre as well and everyone looked at Frederick and myself, cheerful smiles to their faces. Frederick and I just shared a glance and both let out exasperated sighs before placing our hands on top of the pile as well.

"Alright Shepherd's to battle!" Chrom called out to which we responded with a resounding battle cry. We broke up from our huddle and faced the enemy team.

"Milord look" Frederick said while pointing his lance to the masked swordsman Marth.

"I see him…" Chrom stepped forward towards the swordsman and called out. The arena while large could still be crossed from one side to the other in a quick sprint, so Chrom's voice carried easily. "Marth one question before we begin…" At that Marth stayed silent and instead chose to draw his blade with a quick flourish.

"Fine, then. Our blades will do the talking for us!" and Chrom drew Falchion from his sheath pointing his blade towards the masked man.

"Come on you guys you can win!" I heard a cheery voice call out and I gazed out towards the stands behind us. The rest of the Shepherd's were sitting with Flavia watching us fight, Lissa was energetically bouncing up and down waving at us. Sumia was also waving at us, a worried expression on her face. I just gave a thumbs up towards them and then turned back towards the opposing team, taking the time to size them up as I unsheathed my blade. The other team's fighters consisted of; two mages, a large muscular man wielding an axe, a knight encased in iron armour, a swordsman with a curved sword on his belt and he wore a similar clothing to myself an outfit that was common within Chon'sin a small nation in Valm. And lastly there was Marth. _Out of everyone there only Marth and that other swordsman might give us trouble… Oh man this is going to be fun!_

The cheers of the arena fell silent as both teams stared each other down, soon a large gong echoed around the arena signalling the start of the tournament. We all broke out into a sprint as we charged the opposing team, Chrom and myself broke away from the others as magic and arrows exploded and flew past us. The man with the axe jumped in front of me swinging his axe in a wide arc, sliding across on my knees I saw the axe fly over me, causing the man to stumble forward. Colliding into Vaike's fist, jumping to my feet I continued running. The armoured knight stepped forward and thrust his lance at me, side stepping the thrust I plunged my sword into the knight's shoulder where there was no armour protecting it. Chrom rushed past me as he charged towards Marth. _Damn it at this rate Chrom will get there first!_

Booting the knight off my blade, I pursued Chrom quickly looking around for a suitable distraction. To my luck I found one, one of the mages was holding a swirling ball of fire within his hands, looking around for a suitable target. Raising my voice, I called out to the mage, pointing a finger to Chrom in the process.

"Hey you there! That guy says your fire looks weak and stupid!" _Really Roland? That's the best you can come up with ugh…_

Apparently it worked as anger overcame his face and he launched the fireball towards Chrom, causing him to roll out of the way. Sprinting past with a cheeky grin on my face Chrom called out to me with frustration in his voice.

"Damn it Roland! Get back here, that was a dirty trick!"

"Hehe sorry Chrom! First come first served, and I'll be the first to get to Marth" I called back behind me hearing fiery explosions. As Marth came into range I jumped into the air and brought my blade down in a powerful strike, Marth brought up his own blade in a block and the sound of steel on steel rung in the air. Using the momentum from my strike I unleashed a flurry of blows to the masked man, slowly pushing him back as he parried my every blow. Finishing with a side slash our swords were once again locked in a block, both blades sending out small sparks as they grinded against each other. Taking a quick glance at the sword Marth carried, my eyes widening in surprise.

"That sword it looks exactly like Chrom's that would- "However I was cut off, as Marth with a grunt slipped his Falchion copy from our block and began to move on the offense. Raining down heavy blows, it was all I could do just to block and dodge, quickly slicing my sword across me I took several steps back to gain some distance. _This guy… even his fighting style is similar to Chrom's. But I can use that to my advantage._

Bringing my sword up in a defensive stance I voiced my thoughts.

"Marth you even fight similar to Chrom. However, that style won't beat me if you use it"

Marth flourished the copy Falchion before pointing it to me.

"How so?" he inquired, small bit of curiosity in his voice.

"Heh, so you do talk… Chrom's way of fighting is to use his overwhelming strength to break through the opponents' defence. Sure you're a hell of a lot faster then him but clearly not as strong. And trying to overpower an opponent who is stronger than you, will tire you out quickly." Grinning I finished my explanation. Marth gave his own grin before speaking with a smug tone.

"You seem awfully confident about it. But now that you've told me I can just change my stance." Letting out a small chuckle I shook my head.

"You've probably been using that style for years now. It will take more than one battle to go against your instincts" with that I rushed him, slicing my sword at an angle it nicked Marth across the shoulder as he just brought his own blade up in time to guard. Marth soon moved on the offense, trying to dodge most of his strikes as to tire him out more. A couple of them cutting across my body in various places shredding my body, making my own movements sluggish due to blood loss. However, my prediction about him tiring out soon came true. Marth bringing down copy Falchion in a slow over head blow, I jumped back out of range as the sword struck the arena floor causing the ground to crack. With a bloodlust grin I quickly closed the distance and thrust my sword towards Marth, who was just beginning to stand. However, my sword never reached its target as a flash of steel parried the strike and then sliced across my arm. Jumping back, I looked to the masked mans saviour. The robed swordsman from before stood in front of Marth his own curved blade pointing at me. He looked back to Marth before speaking.

"Catch your breath. The battle isn't over yet" He spoke in deep stoic voice; he also took several steps away from Marth for some reason. Marth only gave a grunt in response before pulling himself to his feet and backing off behind him. Taking a deep breath, I looked down at my own injuries, I was bleeding from multiple cuts but none of them were particularly deep. _Hopefully I don't bleed out before the battle is over._

Flourishing my blade, I begun to circle the robed swordsman to which he did the same.

"I'm guessing you're my opponent now? You got a name?" I inquired between breaths.

"Indeed, my name is Lon'qu… and yourself?"

"Roland"

With our introductions out of the way we stopped our circling and charged at one another. The sound of steel on steel filled my ears as sparks flew from our blades, Lon'qu's blade slicing away at my body despite my best efforts to block and parry. _Damn it, I can't keep up with him!_

Swinging my sword in a wide arc and stumbling back to get some distance, Lon'qu however kept the pressure on and brought his blade down on my shoulder. Blood flowing out as his blade cut deep, biting back a scream of pain I used this opportunity to slash at his sides causing him to stumble back a hand to his wound, blood flowing between his fingers. Feeling light in the head I fell to my knee and planted my sword into the ground to steady myself.

'Heh gotta say. Despite bleeding out right now, this is getting fun." I dryly remarked with a grin on my bloodied face. Lon'qu returned his own grin before rushing me, rolling out of the way I sliced at his legs only for him to jump over my blade and boot me in the face. Quickly getting to my feet and bringing my blade up Lon'qu closed the distance with remarkable speed and sliced his sword across my chest, quickly spinning around I slashed at Lon'qu's sides again before falling to the ground in a bloodied heap. Gazing up I saw Lon'qu stand before me, a hand to his bloodied sides and blade pointed towards me.

"Are you done? I would rather not kill you. You fought like a true warrior and there is no shame in surrender" He said between ragged breaths. _Give up? No I won't…_

Anger burned inside me at his words and slamming my sword to the ground I dizzyingly pulled myself off the floor.

"Sorry pal. But I'm not one to lay down and give up! I'm just getting started!" The anger inside me surged forth and I felt my body get lighter. The black flames had returned and now engulfed my blade as I pointed it towards Lon'qu, who jumped back in surprise and brought his own blade up in a defensive stance. _This is probably my last clash. Anymore hits and I'm done for._

Charging at Lon'qu and giving out a beast like roar, the tip of my sword dragging along the ground, the roaring black flames scorching the arena floor. I sliced my blade up in a powerful uppercut. Lon'qu also let out his own roar and rushed me, his own blade coming down in an overhead slash.

"I won't lose!"

"I'll make this quick!"

 _ **GONG**_

A loud echoing reverberated throughout the arena followed by the roar of the crowd, a rush of air flew around our bodies as both our blades stopped inches away from clashing into one another. _What the hell? Oh right the tournament…_

With a small sizzling sound my sword was extinguished. Falling to the ground I turned behind me to see who the victor was. Viewing the scene before me, Chrom stood over a defeated Marth, whose hands were raised up in defeat. The other Shepherd's were standing over their own opponents, no one appeared to have any serious injuries only small cuts and bruises here and there. _Well that's a relief._

Hearing footsteps I turned back to see Lon'qu stand before me hand outstretched, the smallest of smiles on his face. I reached out to the offered hand and with a grunt he helped me to my feet.

"You fight like a demon. Although I am curious about those eyes and flames of yours" He inquired, grunting as he helped me back to the centre of the arena.

"I'll take that as a compliment… Also what do you mean about my eyes?" I asked curiously, he just gave me a strange look before speaking.

"When those black flames sprung from your sword, your eyes changed from brown to a red" Giving a confused look I put a hand to my chin. _Well I still know nothing about this black flames that just appear on my sword… And hearing about my eyes changing colour is also new one._

"Well I'm I don't know anything about either of those things. The flames kinda just appeared one day." I said with an exhausted sigh.

"I see… judging by your reaction you don't know how to activate it our control them?" I just shook my head at that. Soon we both reached the centre of the arena and Lon'qu handed me off to Robin. I gave a sheepish smile and thumbs up as he looked at my bloodied body with an exasperated groan.

"Come on bandit lets get you to Lissa, before you bleed out on me." I just let out an embarrassed laugh as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, Chrom soon walked up and helped him carry me, shooting me an annoyed look.

"I think this is karma for that trick you pulled back there" he said in an annoyed growl.

"Ah come on Chrom, don't be like that! The rest of those guys were push overs anyways you had nothing to worry about" I said in a cheeky tone.

"Well true but…" putting a hand up I cut him off before he could say another more.

"Besides we both got to fight Marth and you defeated him, everything worked out in the end." He only gave a frustrated sigh as his head drooped to the ground.

"Ugh fine. But you know Roland I'll get you back one of these days" At that Robin and the rest of the Shepherd's let out a laugh, as we all walked back to where the others were waiting.

 _ **XXXX**_

As we re-joined Flavia and the rest of the Shepherd's, I received yet another stern lecture from Lissa about my recklessness as she healed and bandaged my wounds. Luckily I wouldn't have to get any stiches and most of my injuries would be healed in a couple of days. Some of the Shepherd's asked about my sword igniting but I just gave them all the same answer of 'I don't know'. Flavia then lead us back to a large throne room, before turning to speak to us.

"Well fought truly! You my respect. But most importantly you have your alliance and the troops Ylisse needs!" Chrom gave a bow before speaking up.

"Thank you East-Khan" To which she waved him off.

"Bah! I should be thanking you! It feels like ages since I've been back in power. Come my new friends let us feast and celebrate tonight!" With that she turned to leave wrapping an arm around Sully's shoulder. Apparently the two of them got on along very well. The rest of the Shepherd's soon followed the two, leaving Chrom, Robin, Lissa and myself. I turned to leave and follow them but a booming voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Bah! Any excuse to have a party and that woman jumps on it like mouse on cheese!" the booming voice belonged to a large muscular man with an eye patch on his left eye, he wore a heavy set of gold tinted steel armour. Chrom only gave the giant of a man a confused look before speaking.

"I'm sorry, but have we met before now?"

"Me? I'm Basilio, the West-Khan you so rudely removed from power! I gotta say though, your pretty handy with that sword, boy. I was certain I had the better man." He spoke in his booming voice before clapping Chrom on the shoulder, causing him to stumble forward. I leaned in and whispered in Robin's ear.

"Hey looks like you were on the money of at least one of the khans' appearances" I said in a cheeky tone, to which he elbowed me in the side and hitting one of my injuries. Causing me to give a muffled yelp and Robin gave a small cough before speaking up, ignoring my reaction.

"You mean Marth? What do you know of him?" Robin curiously inquired. I was also keen about learning more of this Marth person, especially since he carries a replica of Falchion and he uses a fighting style similar to Chrom.

"Well that man is just a sellsword with delusions of grandeur. He came in one day and knocked my champion flat on his arse. I tell you it was love at first sight, so I made the man my new champion for this tournament. but he up and left soon as the damn thing finished." Basilio gave a sigh as he finished his story. Lissa however gave a dreamy sigh as she clasped her hands together in front of her, before speaking.

"Oh he's so dark and mysterious..."

"Looks like Marth has one fan at least." I mumbled. Lissa just looked to me with a pout.

"Oh c'mon Roland… he IS sort of dreamy right?"

"Ah, your asking the wrong person about this" I replied, Chrom also spoke up adopting a brotherly tone.

"And YOU'RE sort of dreaming Lissa!"

"Aw c'mon lighten up big brother I was only joking." At that Flavia's head popped out of the doorway leading to the dining hall. Speaking with a slight slur.

"Ah! C'mon you four leave that oaf behind and feast with us!" Chrom turned and bowed to Basilio before turning to leave.

"Hold on boy! Before you go take this." He turned to a doorway and beckoned to whoever was on the other side. To my surprise Lon'qu entered and gave us all a small nod. Basilio then spoke up again with great pride in his voice.

"This here is Lon'qu, my former champion. He doesn't talk much mind you but that doesn't matter when he's peerless with a sword. To be honest, I still can't figure out how Marth bested him so quickly. I just stood there eyes wide in surprise. _Wait Lon'qu was the former champion! And Marth bested him… Either were talking different Marth's or the one I fought was holding back._

I put a hand to my chin in pensive thought at this new information. Lissa spoke up with surprise in her voice.

"Wait Marth beat him? But he's so muscular and looks so strong" She stepped forward towards Lon'qu. But he quickly shot up his hand and shooed her away. Speaking in a nervous tone.

"Begone woman!" Lissa took a step back in surprise, a hurt expression on her face.

"W-What! Did I say something wrong!?" Basilio just let out a bellowing laugh before putting a hand on Lon'qu's shoulder.

"Let's just say women put Lon'qu on edge. Nonetheless, he is quite capable. And probably has the makings of a khan. Consider him a West-Ferox's addition to the Ylissean cause."

Chrom gave a surprised look and studied Lon'qu.

"Are you certain about this?"  
"Yes, yes. He's your man to command now" he said with small amounts of annoyance tinging his voice. Chrom turned to Lon'qu.

"And Lon'qu? Do you have any objections?" Lon'qu just folded his arms and shook his head.

"He gives orders. I stab people. I think our roles are clear" At that I gave a cheeky grin and wrapped an arm around Lon'qu.

"I like this guy" Chrom stayed silent for a moment longer before stretching out his hand towards Lon'qu.

"Alright then. Welcome aboard the Shepherd's." Lon'qu took the hand and shook it with a fierce grip.

For the rest of the night we feasted and celebrated our new found alliance with Flavia, once again I didn't stay long as my exhaustion from my injuries and fighting earlier soon caught up to me, and I chose to retire to bed early. The next morning, we would leave Regna Ferox and take another three-day march back to Ylisstol, bringing news of our new alliance with the East-Khan.

 _ **Authors Notes: Hey everyone first off I would like to apologises for the lack of chapter updates. I've recently been looking for a new job and I also had a bit of that deadly writers block this chapter. So I didn't want to force out any ideas that would affect the quality of my writing. Anyways, I've had a few people ask what class is Roland, a myrmidon or a mercenary. To which Roland is indeed a myrmidon he just calls himself a mercenary because that's what his job is. However, stat wise he's different from the typical myrmidon's that excel with high skill and speed stat growths in-game. Instead Roland would have higher strength and speed growths with average skill, meaning he hits harder and more often but crits less often than other myrmidon's like Lon'qu or Say'ri. Anyways I've rambled on long enough, expect the next chapter to be out in 2 or 3 days. Also let me know in a review of what you think of the story so far. Thank you for reading and I'll see you guys next chapter!**_


	7. The Mad King

_**Chapter 5: Pies, Sickles and a Damsel in Distress Oh My!**_

 _Having defeated and dethroned West-Khan Basilio in the Feroxi tournament and restoring sovereign power to East-Khan Flavia. We said our farewells to the East- Khan and journeyed back to Ylisstol, bringing news of a new alliance between the two nations in stopping the Risen and Plegian threats._

Travelling on the Northroad we were a day's march out from reaching Ylisstol. The return march was quite uneventful and we only had to stopped once to deal with a swarm of Risen plaguing the crossroads. Having stopped our convoy for the day, the rest of the Shepherd's were sitting and enjoying themselves around the large campfire that was the centre of our small camp. I just stuck to the outskirts of our camp sitting on a nearby fallen tree, staring at my curved sword in pensive thought.

 _The black flames didn't ignite when we thought those Risen earlier. They only seem to come out when I'm fighting a tough opponent, and even then I still have no idea how I manage to ignite my sword._

I was knocked out of my reverie when a small pebble struck my head. Quickly getting to my feet I put a hand to my sword, however the moss on the tree caused me to loose my footing and fall to the ground with a loud thud.

"Ow! What the hell!?" Sitting up I rubbed my back as I looked around my surroundings trying to find who threw the pebble. My question was answered when Sumia ran forward towards me until she tripped on the thrown pebble and fell face first into the ground next to me. Giving her an annoyed glare I helped her to her feet.

"Sumia you could have just called me you know." She dusted herself off before giving me an exasperated pout.

"I WAS calling you Roland but you didn't answer me…"

"So you threw a rock at me instead of… OH I don't know, tapping me on the shoulder like a normal person?" She looked away embarrassed as she started to fidget with her hands.

"Well there's a reason for that. But I need your help with something and I can't tell you here. Come on!" With that she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me back to the camp.

"Sumia!? Wait what's going on here!?" I yelled in protest, she only turned her head to me and put a finger to her lips.

"Shh! Be quite" groaning in annoyance I let myself be dragged off into whatever the hell she had planned for me.

After a short period of time, I found myself sitting arms crossed on a small stool inside Sumia's tent. Looking around the tent it looked quite tidy, a large pile of books lay next to her cot and Pegasus feather's were scattered around here and there. There was also a set of tools used to groom her Pegasus and the other horses of the Shepherd's.

"Okay now you mind telling me what is going on with you?" I asked with a tint of annoyance in my voice. Sumia stuck her head out of the tent flap before walking back in and sitting on her cot. She stayed silent for a while longer her head downcast and her bangs covering her face. I just sat their arms folded waiting for her to speak up, when she finally did it wasn't what I was expecting.

"Roland. I need your help in making a pie"

"E-Excuse me?" Giving her a dumbstruck look, she only looked back with fiery determination burning in her pale eyes.

"You heard me. I need your help with making a pie"

"S-Sumia I'm not sure if you know our not but I'm a horrible cook"

"That's fine, I only need you to try the finished product and tell me if its good" I put a hand to my chin before speaking out.

"Okay but what kind of pie or we talking about here?"

"Rhubarb-and-Fiddlehead pie"

"What no meat?' I deadpanned, she shook her head quickly before speaking.

"What? No that's the worst thing he needs in his condition!" I perked up at that and leaned forward a bit on my stool.

"Wait a minute you said 'he' just who exactly are you making this for?" She froze with her mouth slightly open, before a large red blush crept up her face and she begun fidgeting with her hands again.

"I-I'm making it for…" She mumbled the rest as she turned her face down to the ground. I leaned forward closer to her, putting a hand to my ear so I could hear.

"I missed that, who is it?" She gave out a frustrated growl before raising her head, the large blush still stuck to her face.

"I said I'm making it for Chrom! Geez…" I sat back in my stool and folded my arms thinking about this new information. Sumia just sat on her cot and continued to fidget with her hands. After a brief bout of silence, I sat forward with a grin on my face.

"Sure I'll help you out" Sumia's head perked up, glee in her eyes

"Y-You will?"

"Yeah, Chrom's a busy guy and sometimes he misses out on a meal. It's nice of you to help out a friend" Sumia just sat there, her expression somewhere between amusement and confusion. She decided to go with the former as she let out a small laugh, rubbing the back of her head.

"Y-Yeah. Something like that Roland…" standing up from the stool with a smile to my face, I helped Sumia to her feet.

"So all I need to do is eat the pie and tell you if its good or not, right?"

"Yeah that's right!" I slammed my fist into my palm and giving out a cheeky grin.

"Alright let's get started then!"

 _ **XX**_

 _Oh gods… what did I do to deserve this manner of hell!_

My earlier enthusiasm was completely gone and was now replaced with growing dread. Putting a hand to my mouth, I paled as I felt another burp coming up.

"Sumia… how many have I eaten so far?" Sumia with a white checked apron around her usual purple outfit strode into the tent with another pie in her hand. Placing it on a small table she putting a hand to her chin before speaking.

"I think this is the… fourteenth? But this next one, is the best I promise!" _Well that's not saying much…_

I didn't voice my thoughts, while the pies where getting better as she made them they had already done the damage to my stomach and my appetite. Looking down at the pie before me and taking a large gulp of water from my water skin, I readied myself for the inevitable.

"…"

"W-Well how is it?" She asked in a nervous voice.

"I-Its… amazing! Sumia how did you do this?" I looked between Sumia and the pie before me

"Oh you know a couple of herbs and spices here and there…" Shakily standing to my feet I put a hand to her shoulder.

"Well I'm sure Chrom will love it. Even with the lack of meat in it… just don't ask me to taste test anything anytime soon."

"Hehe. Sure thing Roland. But thank you, really thank you" She said with a sweet smile. I made my way to the tent flap and gave her a thumbs up before leaving. Letting out a large sigh I made my way back to the fallen tree I was sitting at only hours before.

"You look like you've seen better days" turning to the smug voice that belonged to the Shepherd's tactician, I gave an exasperated sigh and continued my walk towards the tree.

"Yeah that usually happens when you stuff your face full of food" I deadpanned

"Funny, I never took you for 'stuff your face full of food' guy" he replied with a small chuckle

"I'm not"

Having reached the tree, I motioned for Robin to give me a hand climbing up, since my stomach was still recovering from the over eating. With a grunt he helped me climb up and he sat down next to me. Looking over the Ylissean plains and the small villages scattered around it, the sun begun to set and we enjoyed the serenity in silence.

"Have any dreams now?" I said breaking the silence. Robin turned to me with a small smile to his face.

"Yeah I do"

"Good or bad ones?"

"Mostly good. Some bad ones here and there… what about you?" he inquired.

"Mostly bad ones…" I said turning my head to the ground. Robin reached out and placed a hand to my shoulder with a reassuring look on his face.

"Wanna talk about it?" I only shook my head and let out a gloomy sigh.

"Maybe one day" he only gave my shoulder a squeeze in response. Quickly changing the subject however I gave him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Anyways, what was that squealing I heard from your tent. Lissa put another frog in your bed?"

"Gods don't remind me about that. And hey I don't squeal!" From there the mood brightened as the topic changed from one thing to another. Such as Lissa's various attempts of pulling pranks on the both of us (she always failed on my part) to Frederick's training in the morning that some of the Shepherd's took part of and so forth. Without us noticing the sun had set and the stars in the night sky shone down upon us like sparklingly gems in the sky. Robin and myself moved back into the camp and joined the others round the campfire, enjoying Stahl's stew I even saw Chrom eating one of Sumia's pies with childlike joy in his eyes, much to Sumia's delight. Overall the night was merry and we all enjoyed ourselves.

 _ **XX**_

Sitting up from my bed I looked around my tent. It was still night time and nothing appeared out of the ordinary. _Strange I didn't wake up from a nightmare either…_

Pulling myself out of bed and throwing on my black coat, strapping my sword to my belt I pulled back the tent flap and surveyed our encampment. Seeing Frederick standing at the edge of camp with lance in hand I moved up to join him.

"Roland"

"Frederick"

"Seeing as your awake you must have felt this strange sensation too" His eyes studying the horizon.

"Yeah and the last time this happened a man fell from the sky" We continued to look out of the plains in silence, until a strange scent caught my attention. I tapped Frederick on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Hey do you smell that?" he narrowed his eyes slightly before sniffing the air.

"I do, it smells like smoke and something else I can't quite put my finger on…"

"I know what it is, and it's not good" I turned away and ran back to the camp calling out to Frederick behind me.

"I'll wake Chrom and Robin! We're going to need them for this!" I found Robin's tent first, as he liked to be away from the centre of the camp. Pulling the tent flap back I saw Robin sitting at his desk reading through a stack of books, raising his head at my sudden appearance.

"Get your sword and tomes ready. We got trouble" and I quickly left the tent before I could hear a reply. Running through the camp I found Chrom sitting by the campfire talking with Vaike.

"Chrom you have your steel with you?"

"Uh yes, why do you ask Roland?" He gave me a strange look as he unsheathed Falchion slightly from its sheath.

"Good come with me we might have some trouble" With that I pulled him by the arm to where Frederick was standing with Robin. The smell of smoke and burnt flesh was getting thicker as we strode to the edge of the camp.

"You were right Roland. We do have trouble" Chrom then turned to Frederick speaking in a deadly serious tone.  
"Frederick prepare the Shepherd's for battle. We still don't know whether we're dealing with bandits or the Risen. So be on high alert."

"At your command milord" Frederick replied as he strode back into the camp. Chrom turned back towards Robin and myself, putting a hand to the hilt of Falchion.

"So you two Risen or bandits?" Robin put a hand to his chin thinking about the question for a moment. However, before he could answer a small village boy wearing a pot on his head burst through the nearby tree line.

"You gots to halp us milords!" he spoke in a thick accent that was common for most villages. He ran forward towards us breathing heavily, Chrom grabbed him by the shoulders to help keep his footing.

"Whoa. Slow down there, what happened?" However, once again we were interrupted as a rugged looking man carrying a short sword burst through the tree line from where the village boy came.

"Ah-Hah! There you are little piglet." The man spoke with a Plegian accent. Robin stepped forward, lighting crackling around his hand.

"…Yay bandits" He deadpanned, moving up besides him I unsheathed my blade.

"Just so you guys know I would have guessed bandits" The bandit stepped forward and swung his sword around, trying and failing to look intimidating.

"Well, well, well. What do we 'ave here? Couple noble lordlings lost in the woods?" It was at this moment that Frederick returned on his mount, lance in hand ready to battle.

"Milord. The Shepherd's are ready for combat" The bandit paled at that and nervously backed away from us.

"W-Wait a minute, Shepherd's? THE Shepherd's! Oh damn me!" Chrom stepped forward and ripped Falchion from its sheath, the blade glowing in the moonlight.  
"That's right. So, what are you gonna do? Run and live or fight and die?" The bandit just went even more pale. Before he bolted off back into the woods, tripping over a root or two along the way. Chrom quickly turned to the young man placing a hand to his shoulder.

"Alright quickly now lad. What happened here?" The young boy quickly straightened up giving a salute.

"Y-Yes, milord! Right away, milord…. If it, uh, pleases your graciousness" I couldn't help but snicker at the magnitude of titles being thrown out, Chrom just let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How about we hold off on the titles for now. What's your name lad?"

"Donny. Oh er, that is. Donnel… your Majestyful. I come from a small village little from over yonder." He pointed to the small village that was caught up in the fiery blaze.

"I see, I'm sorry Donny. But what happened?"

"That gods forsaken rotten-toothed, dung-stinkin bandit! Your lordliness just ran off attacked our lil village. Oh er, pardon my language, milords" Giving us a stiff bow before continuing. "I'm the only one that managed to get away. They hauled off the others to a bandit camp. Please your lordyness you have to save those folks! My ma is one of 'em and she's the only I gots in this world." Chrom's hand tightened around the hilt of Falchion and he spoke between gritted teeth.

"Damn those Plegian bandits! Alright Donny. We'll save the villagers and your ma, but can you lead us to the bandit camp?" Donnel's eyes sparkled with hope as he wiped a tear away from his eye.

"Truly your lordhood? Thank you! Just follow me, your sireness!" and Donnel quickly bolted towards the burning village. Despite my best efforts I let out a small chuckle at the ridiculousness of the titles Donnel was giving Chrom, and gave chase to the small village boy. Chrom and the others quickly following in pursuit.

We passed by the village that was set ablaze, some of the Shepherd's stayed behind to help put out smaller fires and look for any surviving villagers. Robin had sent Sumia off ahead of the main group to scout the bandit camp, apparently they were holed up in some ruins near a forest. By the time we reached a hill top overlooking the crumbling ruins Sumia had returned. Quickly dismounting she crouched down next to Chrom and Robin relaying her findings. As they talked I noticed a strange rattling sound besides me, turning to look at the noise I noticed that Donnel was trembling so much the copper pan on his head bounced up and down. Crouching down next to him I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything alright kid?" He turned his head towards me, tears beginning to swell at the edge of his eyes.

"N-No not really your lordshipness"

"Wanna tell me about it then?"

"A-Aye milord." He took a deep breath before he continued. "I just wish I was a strong as you sirs and madams. That would mean I could kick out these scum single-handed and I could protect my ma and the rest of those good folks."

"Then why don't you fight and become stronger then?" Donnel's head perked up and he gave me a questioning look.

"B-But milord, I ain't no warrior or nothing!"

"Listen Donny, nobody is born a warrior. But if you want to protect these people you have to be prepared to take up steel and fight. Besides a sickle isn't far from being a sword. Bandits will fight back but the principal is the same as cutting wheat." At that moment Robin slid down the hill and motioned towards us to gather up.

"Alright everyone the bandits are holed up in those ruins, but there are some hiding among the trees. So we'll split into three groups and encircle the camp and make our way towards the centre. The two groups on the outside try to take out the bandits quickly and quietly, we have the element of surprise on our side so let's keep it that way." Finishing his explanation, Robin assigned; Sumia, Virion, Stahl, Kellam, Frederick and himself as the outside groups. Leaving, Chrom, Lon'qu and myself to take out the bandits within the ruins. With our roles assigned to us we begun to split up, Donnel however, spoke up in a shaky voice.

"Begging your pardon milordship. B-But I want to fight like too!" Chrom opened his mouth to argue but I placed a hand on his shoulder.  
"He wants to get stronger and protect his village Chrom, so let him" Turning to Donnel I spoke out in a serious tone.

"Donny stick by my side alright" The small village boy gave a determined salute, Frederick walked up to Donnel and handed him a lance.  
"Well if he plans on fighting he's going to need a weapon" Glancing down at the foreign object in his hands, tightening his grip on the lance, Donnel gave a nod of gratitude to Frederick.

"Alright. Everyone ready now?" Said Robin, to which we all gave a nod in the affirmative.

We waited for the outside groups to leave first and after a couple of minutes we left our spot behind the hill and made our way into the ruins.

Reaching the outskirts of the ruins, two bandits wielding large battle axes were guarding the entryway into the centre of the camp. Hiding in some nearby by bushes Chrom turned to the us.

"So guys any ideas?" Putting a hand to my sword I quickly surveyed the two bandits.

"Well Lon'qu and I could just rush them"

"We're supposed to do this quietly remember' Chrom sighed.

"Or we could-" I was cut off however by the sound of a large fireball exploding in the distance, followed by a large thud of a nearby tree falling.

"Or that… we could do that" I deadpanned, the two bandits turned towards the sound and began to run off. However, Lon'qu and I were already on our feet and rushed them, quickly cutting them down before they could draw their weapons. Running through the entryway I quickly fell to my knees dodging an axe blow that was aimed at my head, shoving my sword through the bandit's arm, he let out a scream of pain before he was cut off as a lance pierced his heart. Flicking the blood from my blade I turned and gave Donnel a nod as thanks to which he responded with a shaky nod of his own. Quickly moving through some crumbling corridors, we stopped as the corridor split paths. Chrom turned towards me and pointed his finger down the left passage way.

"Roland. Take Donny and look for the captive villagers, Lon'qu and I will search for the leader."

"How come you get the fun part?" I complained, to which he responded by letting out a sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Just get going already, that's an order"

"Aye aye commander… c'mon Donny" I deadpanned and begun to make to make my way through the passageway, hearing Donnel's footsteps in close pursuit. Upon reaching an exit that lead into an open courtyard, another axe wielding bandit jumped out and swung his axe in an overhead strike. Leaning up against the corridor wall to dodge the strike, I planted my foot on the axe handle to keep the axe lodged in the ground. Slamming my fist into the bandits face, he let out a yelp of pain as he grabbed his busted nose. Using this distraction to my advantage I stabbed my sword through his throat, giving one last gurgle he slumped against me motionless. Pushing him off my blade with a grunt I stepped into the courtyard and quickly surveyed the surrounding area. A small glint caught my eye and a piercing pain erupted from my shoulder causing me to stumble back. Quickly looking up and seeing an archer on a crumbling staircase, I grabbed the axe lodged in the ground next to me and flung it at the archer. Despite my lack of training in the art of throwing axes, the axe flew through the air and embedded itself within the archer's shoulder with an audible thunk. Screaming in pain the archer dropped his bow and tumbled down the stairs before becoming motionless at the bottom. Grunting in pain I ripped the arrow from my shoulder causing a small squirt of blood to fly out, and turned back to the passageway.

"Well that worked better than expected… Donny you can come out now!" Donnel emerged from the dark passageway clutching his lance with trembling hands.

"Wow your lordiness that sure was something" he said in awe as he joined me in the centre of the small courtyard. Putting my hand up I gave an annoyed sigh.

"Listen my name's Roland and I'm no lord like Chrom. So there's no need to give me any titles" Donnel's face lit up in understanding as he clapped his hand into his palm.  
"Oh. Now that there makes sense. You're a bit too rough n' rugged to be a lordling" My annoyance only amplified at that remark and I let out a low growl.

"Well you sure change your tune quickly…"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, let's get moving kid" And I began to walk off out of the courtyard. However, some small stones landed next to me and I looked up to see a bandit carrying two knives let out a wild roar before diving off towards Donnel.

"I got ye're now!"

"Donnel! Get back!" I called out and rushed towards the village boy arm outstretched. Donnel stumbled backwards before falling on his back, lance pointed skyward. The bandit continued his roar as he slammed on top of the small boy, skewering himself on the lance as he did. Skidding to my knees I stopped next to the pile of bodies, trying to pry the bandit off Donnel.

"Donny! Answer me are you alright!?"

"Mmphf!" Came a muffled reply. With a large grunt I heaved off the skewered bandit to the side before helping Donnel sit up. Donnel's face paled and his breathing became quick and shallow as he looked to the bandit lying next to him, grabbing him by the shoulders I turned him to face me.

"Hey look at me. Slow your breathing like this. In… and out, in… and out" I demonstrated by taking slow deep breaths, Donnel followed suit and soon enough colour returned to his face and his breathing returned to a somewhat normal pace despite our circumstances. Ruffling his head, I helped him to his feet.

"Hey you did good kid. Lucky as all hell but you did good nonetheless" Moving besides the bandit I ripped the lance from his chest, wiping the blood from the shaft on the bandits' cloak before handing it back to Donnel, to which he visibly winced as I handed it to him.

"T-Thank you Roland"

"You still good to go? I can take you back to the others if you're not feeling well." Donnel shook his head, facing me he gave a determined stare.

"No. I ain't gonna quit now, if this is what it takes to protect my ma. I gots to do it" Giving a small nod I once again begun to walk out of the courtyard, Donnel following closely behind. Making our way through an another set of passageways and yet another courtyard, this one smaller than the last. We came upon a small clearing with two large braziers burning atop a small set of steps. _Weird, we didn't run into any bandits or those villagers…_

I was knocked out of my reverie as another arrow slammed into my shoulder. Giving out a grunt of pain, I once again ripped the arrow from my shoulder and threw it to the ground, blood seeping out of the wound. _Damn it, I'm sick of being shot at tonight._

The arrow was followed by a rugged voice that boomed around the small clearing.

"Well, well. You must be one of those Shepherd's, I've been expecting you!" The voice belonged to a muscular man carrying a large steel axe in one hand and another smaller axe in the other. He stepped out from behind one of the braziers and flashed his cloak in a dramatic fashion as he talked. I stepped forward hand to the hilt of my sword, speaking out in a cocky voice.

"Was that before or after that fireball explosion?" The man just screwed up his face and stomped his foot on the ground.

"D-Does it really matter!" he let out a small cough and straightened his cloak before continuing. "But what DOES matter. Is that I have one of the Shepherd's lordlings in my hands, ready to be sold off to the highest bidder!" I just took another step forward letting out a humourless laugh, my sword ringing as I pulled it from its sheath.

"Sorry to disappoint. But I'm no lord, just a mercenary that's real tired of being someone's target practice." I turned back to Donnel who was setting himself in a defensive stance. "Donny, think you can take out that archer while I get the big guy?"

"S-Sure. But Roland aren't you hurt by those arrow wounds?" Giving out a frustrated growl my walk turned into a sprint as I rushed the axe bandit.  
"Sure… but its being overwhelmed by how pissed off I am!" The bandit took a startled step back at my sudden sprint and threw one of the smaller axes at me. Swinging my sword in a wide arc I deflected the axe, causing it to fall harmlessly to the ground. Apparently he had more than one, as I had to roll out of the way as another axe slammed into the ground with a dull thud. Continuing my sprint, I rushed up the stairs and once at the top I jumped up into the air and brought my sword down in an overhead slash. The bandit managed to bring his axe up in time as my sword bit into the wooden shaft, almost cleaving it in half. _That's an idea_

Ripping my sword from the axe shaft, I ducked under a slash from the axe before slicing with an uppercut. This caused the bandit to jump back gripping his chest as blood flowed from the cut, pushing the attack I jumped in the air again with an overhead slash. Once again the bandit brought his axe up to block, this time however I cleaved the shaft of the axe clean in two, cutting the thug in the process. Looking between the two piece in his hand the bandit gave an angry roar as he brought his now shortened axe down upon me, discarding a piece of the wooden shaft. Rolling away the axe buried itself in the ground, quickly picking up the wooden shaft I drove it through the bandit's thigh, causing a small fountain of blood to gush out. Dropping his axe and falling to his knees the bandit gave out a howl of pain as he grabbed the shaft in his thigh trying to pull it out. Standing before him I drove my sword through his neck, causing him to immediately fall limp. Pulling my sword free I turned around behind me and noticed a second archer facing me, arrow knocked to his bow.

"You won't be able to hit me if you keep shaking like that" My tone deathly serious.

"Y-You're a demon! A-A monster!" he replied the fear clear in his voice, slowly walking towards him the tip of my blade dragging along the ground.  
"So I've been told. Now you have two options; run and leave this life behind. Or fight and die by my blade… your choice" I was close enough now that the arrow on the bow was touching my chest. The archer continued to shake in fear before dropping his bow and running off out of the ruins. I let out a small breath as I sheathed my sword and turned to find Donnel. I found him sitting on the steps, lance in his lap, noticing my footsteps he got to his feet and gave a stiff smile.

"Everything alright kid, I though you had the archer taken care of?"

"A-Aye Roland see 'em there" pointing to the body of an archer behind one of the braziers, patting him on the shoulder I lead him out of the small clearing.

"So it seems, good job Donnel. Now let's go find your ma." He only gave a small nod as we walked off in silence.

Retracing our steps back through the passageways and finding the corridor that split paths, we went through the right side path this time. Soon enough we came out in a small clearing filled with villages, Chrom and Lon'qu was also there helping them out of their bindings. A small round woman came bounding out of the group and wrapped Donnel up in her arms.

"Oh, Donny! Praise Naga that your safe and sound. You had me worried to death boy!"

"Heh sorry about that ma. But your safe now" Donnel had tears welling up in his eyes as he returned his mothers hug. Letting them have their moment I joined Chrom and Lon'qu, a wide cheeky grin to my face.

"Looks like I fought the bandit leader after all! Huh-ha" Wrapping an arm around Chrom's shoulders, speaking in a cheery tone. Chrom just face palmed and Lon'qu looked… displeased? I dunno it's hard to read that guy sometimes.

"So it would seem. Anyways how did Donny go?" We both turned to the small village boy being lifted up in the air by the other villagers.

"Well his got guts, and a lot of potential. He'd make a fine warrior if he trains hard enough" Chrom just placed a hand to his chin in deep thought as he studied the young man. As we left the ruins Lissa ran up to us and inspected us for injuries, when she got to me she gave an exasperated sigh.

"Roland, when you were hit by those arrows you didn't rip them out straight away did you?"

"Uh… of course I did, they only get in the way of fighting" She let out a frustrated growl as she whacked me over the head with her stave.

"Oh Lissa! What the hell was that for!"

"Geez you idiot now I have to clean out the wounds and give you stiches!"

"Ah big whoop I've had plenty of stiches over my life"

"Yeah no kidding. Now come on!" Dragging me by the arm back towards the village, I could hear the laughter of the others in the background.

Returning to the village, we gave the villagers a portion of our supplies, Chrom even gave them a large coin purse as compensation for some of their homes burning down. After spending what little time of the night we had left resting in the village, we began to march back to Ylisstol as the sun began rising early in the morning. As we began to leave however Donnel's mother ran up to Chrom and myself, Donnel in hot pursuit behind her.

"F-Forgive me you lordshipness! I never did thank you for taking care of me boy and our village" She gave a deep bow, Donnel also gave a bow as he caught up to her.

"Y-Yes thank you your graciousness. I can't begin to repay you!" Chrom waved him off as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No need to thank me Donny, you led the charge against the bandits. And I hear you have great potential, hone it and protect this village." He then turned away and began to walk off. However, Donnel called out and jumped in front of him. Giving another bow.

"Wait please! I have a request sir. If it pleases your graceliness… please take me with you! Lemme be a warrior, a Shepherd like you and Roland! Please sir!"

Donnel's mother ran up besides him and clocked him over the head, putting her hands to her hips.

"Be quite, you foolish boy"

"But ma! I want to hone my po- er whatever it is. I want to keep you and this village safe! I thought I was a good for nothing that was only good at shovelin dirt. But Roland showed me there's more that I can do. M-More that needs doing!" His mother gave another exasperated groan.

"You needs to be knowin yer place boy! A farmhand's not fit for a royal's army-" Chrom walked up and placed a hand to Donnel shoulder, a warm smile to his face.

"Actually we would be happy to have him. If Roland says he has potential as a great warrior, who am I to doubt his words. So Donnel, you have my trust as well."

"T-Thank you for the kind words milord but…" Donnel's mother gave another sigh, tears welling in her eyes. "Well Donny yer a grown man now. I s'pose you can make up yer own mind" Donnel's eyes widened in joy as he ran up and wrapped his arms around his mother.

"Daw thanks ma."  
"N-Now get going, you don't wanna be left behind! Just come home safe and sound. And I'll be sure this ol' village is still standing when you come back a hero" She gave him a tight squeeze before shoeing him off. "Well off with ye' glory's a-waiting!" Donnel quickly stepped up besides Chrom and myself waving back towards his mother as we began our march. He then called out to her waving his arms with tears in his eyes.

"I ain't fightin for glory ma! I'm fightin for you! But if I do find some glory. I'll be sure to bring some home for you!" Chrom and myself both raised our hands in farewell as we saw the little village slowly recede in the distance. Donnel quickly ran off to greet the rest of the Shepherd's, leaving Chrom and myself in the back.

"Thanks for that" Chrom turned to me and gave a confused look.

"What for?"

"For trusting my words back there, it means a lot… so uh thanks" I awkwardly scratched the back of my head. _Damn it. I'm so not good at this._

Clapping my shoulder Chrom let out a hearty laugh, I just turned to him annoyed.

"Damn it! You idiot. I'm thanking you and this is what I get!?" Chrom wiping away the tear of mirth at the edge of his eye, shook his head.

"S-Sorry, its just nice to see you opening up to us. So you thanking me is something new to me"

"Yeah well don't get used to it!" and I folded my arms, giving him an annoyed glare. My act however didn't last long and soon I joined in with his laughter. With a new addition to the Shepherd's we marched off to Ylisstol.

 _ **XXXX**_

By the time we reached the capital, the mid-day sun was beating down on us. Chrom and Lissa went off to report the success of our new alliance with Regna Ferox to Emmeryn. The rest of the Shepherd's went their separate ways to prepare for the next march or just relax in the barracks until our new mission. This left me standing in the courtyard with free time I had no idea what to do with. _I suppose I could take a nap under the tree._

My thought was cut short however as Robin tapped me on the shoulder.  
"Hey Roland your not busy at the moment are you?"

"Uh no, what do you need a hand with something?"

"Yeah just need an extra set of hands with some stuff"

"Sure I'll help you out"

"Awesome, let's get going then"

Apparently what the extra set of hands were needed for, was to carry all the tomes and books from Robin's belongings back to the royal library. Something that was surprisingly hard as some of the books were extremely large.

"Tell me again why you need so many damn books" I grunted out, as Robin and I were both carrying a particularly large tome that needed two people to lift it.

"Well I am the Shepherd's tactician, so I thought I needed to brush up on my tactical knowledge with some light reading."

"You call this light reading!" As we dropped the book off at the receptionist desk with a heavy thud, the old lady behind the desk gave me a glare before placing a withered finger to her lips and shushing me. I gave an apologetic wave to the old woman as we left the library and made our way to the courtyard, all of the tomes being returned to the library. Sitting on the edge of the fountain I let out a deep sigh.

"Next time we do this, remind me to grab Vaike." Robin only responded with an embarrassed laugh, as he joined me at the edge of the fountain. We spent the time in a comfortable silence, however the serene mood was broken as Chrom and Lissa strode down the steps. Lissa with concern etched into her face, and Chrom tightly gripping Falchion by the hilt. Sharing a glance to one another, Robin and myself quickly stood up and walked to meet them.

"Has something happened?" Concern seeped into Robin's voice.

"Plegian soldiers have come across the border and have taken Maribelle hostage!" Lissa cried out, tears creeping at the edge of her eyes. Chrom placed a hand to her shoulder before speaking.  
"That's not the only thing, the Mad King Gangrel has claimed that Maribelle invaded Plegia and thus seeks reparations for this 'insult' to his country"

"Wait what was a noble like Maribelle even doing near the Plegian border?" Folding my arms, I gave Chrom a questioning look. To which he let out a small sigh before beginning his explanation.

"Last I heard, Maribelle was in a small region called Themis. Helping the survivors in a village that had succumbed to a Plegian bandit attack. We only just received word from Philia captain of the Pegasus Knights that she was abducted." I gave a small nod, thinking over this new information. Themis was a region just west of Ylisstol and was surrounded by mountains that made up the Plegian border, so it makes sense how easily Maribelle was captured.

"Can I ask what reparations this 'Mad King' demands of us?" Robin asked, Chrom just shook his again.  
"I don't know. But I'm guessing we'll find out once we get to the border pass." I perked up at that eyes widening in surprise.

"Wait we're going to try and parlay with the Mad King of Plegia! Hmpf it would be better just to stick a sword in his gut and be done with it."

"Aye I suggested as much, but Emm believes there's a peaceful solution to be made… So I'm about to alert the other Shepherd's I suggest you two prepare to head out too." And Chrom and Robin marched off towards the Shepherd's barracks. Leaving Lissa and myself standing in the courtyard. Moving up besides her I ruffled her hair leaving my hand on top of her head.

"Don't worry Lissa, we'll save Maribelle. And we'll give Gangrel the ass beating of a lifetime if he so much as touches her." Giving her a cheeky grin and a thumbs up, hoping to reassure her. She let out a small chuckle and sniffled as she wiped away the tear at the edge of her eye.  
"Heh thanks Roland, really." At that I squeezed her shoulder and left to go prepare, giving her a wave as I ran up the steps to my room.

It only took half an hour for all of the Shepherd's to get prepared and ready. As we waited outside the gates for Emmeryn and her armed escort, that consisted of the captain of the Pegasus Knights and a few of her soldiers. Once they arrived we quickly began our march to the border. At a fast enough pace from the capital, we could make it to the mountains by nightfall and be at the border by the next morning. Chrom however, was delayed at the city gates as a small boy wearing a wizard's hat that seemed too big for his head stopped to talk to Chrom. I couldn't catch what they were saying but Chrom soon waved goodbye to the boy and ran to catch up. As soon as he did, I fell in besides him.

"Who was the kid?"

"Oh him. That was Ricken, he's a mage with great magic potential despite his age"

"What and he wanted to come along or something?"

"Yeah but he's to young for a mission like this so I ordered him to stay behind" I gave him a confused look at that last remark.

"Wait ordered? You mean he's a Shepherd?"

"What I never told you?"

"Of course not!"

"Oh- well now you know" and he gave a small chuckle before walking ahead to the front of our convoy. Face palming myself I gave an exasperated sigh as I picked up my pace.  
 _Gods just what kind of elite army is this!_

The sun had begun to set as we marched our way through the rigid mountains paths. Without knowing I had somehow made my way to the front of the convoy, and was marching just behind Emmeryn and Philia as they rode a horse and Pegasus respectively. Having nothing better to do I moved up besides Emmeryn, giving a small nod of my head in greeting.

"Your Grace" she gave a small chuckle giving me a warm smile.

"Please Roland. I don't think there's any need for you to be giving me titles. Especially after I helped you out with your problem." Feeling my face heat up I looked away giving a sigh.

"Something tells me you're not gonna let that down. Gods that was embarrassing." Giving yet another chuckle she made to dismount her horse. Grabbing her by the hand I helped her to the ground, she gave a small curtsy in thanks, and we continued our walk.

"Chrom and Lissa tell me that your beginning to enjoy being in the Shepherd's"

"Do they now? I'm surprised they even talk about me" I said raising an eyebrow, giving a nod Emmeryn spoke in a cheerful tone.  
"Oh yes, Lissa mentioned how cool you were when you were fighting in the arena at Ferox and how annoyed she gets as she has to heal you up after 'every reckless fight' you get in. Chrom also mentions how strong you are as a fighter as well. And also how you help out around camp" Letting out another embarrassed sigh I rubbed the back of my head.

"Damn tattletales. I hope you didn't share the story of my hair predicament" She let out a serene laugh as she rubbed the neck of her white stead.

"No Roland. That will be our secret to share."

"Thank the gods. I don't think they'll ever let me forget about it if you told them" We continued to walk in silence for a while longer before I broke out into a laugh. Emmeryn turned to me and tilted her head in a confused manner.

"What's so funny?" Wiping a tear of mirth from my eye as my outburst of laughter subsided.  
"Oh I just find it funny how I've gone from wandering the lands as a rough n' rugged mercenary, to joining an army called the Shepherd's and keeping a secret with the Exalt of Ylisse... Funny how life works." Emmeryn gave out her own giggle.  
"Indeed. But you still look like a rough n' rugged mercenary to me" Turning to her I gave an annoyed stare.

"What's that supposed to mean? I thought I looked better with this coat on?" Emphasising this by grabbing the white fur collar of my coat. She continued to giggle as she replied.

"Oh nothing. I just think there's a certain charm to it"

"What, being rough n' rugged?" She gave a cheerful nod before responding.

"Mm-hm"

"Ah… of course you do" I replied letting out a sigh. We continued to walk in a comfortable silence as we climbed our way through the mountain paths, soon enough night fell on us and we set up camp for the night. Chrom and Robin decided to post some members of the Shepherd's as a night watch, since we weren't entirely sure we were safe camping in the mountains so close to Plegia. I volunteered for the first watch, since I wasn't to keen to return to my nightmare induced sleep just yet, joining me on watch duty was Stahl and we passed the night hours by talking about various things. Such as sword and lance techniques, he even gave me some pointers on how to make a simple stew. We even came up with a game in which we had to guess what the other person was seeing after they had given the first letter to the object. Soon the hours passed by and we were replaced with Sully and Kellam, waving goodnight to the others I went back to my tent and climbed into the cot. Hoping that I was tired enough to not have any dreams tonight. _Doubtful… but hey a man can hope._

The morning sun rose and we quickly packed up our camp and began our march again. Within a couple of hours, we came across a large clearing within the mountains. Small stone outposts dotted the steep hillsides along with a small platoon of Plegian soldiers. _Well it looks like they were expecting us._

Stepping up alongside Chrom and Emmeryn, I placed a hand to the hilt of my sword. Studying the landscape and trying to spot Maribelle. Soon a man wearing bright yellow and black clothing marched on top one of the cliffs, his yellow cap flapping in the breeze. He gave an exaggerated bow before speaking out in a shrill voice.

"My, My! The Exalt in all her pure radiance. Alas I must shield my eyes from this sight" Letting out a cackling laugh as he finished. Emmeryn stepped forward, her green robes flowing behind her and she raised her voice so that the man could hear her.

"King Gangrel, I have come to seek out the truth of this unfortunate incident that has happened between our two nations." As she finished speaking a tall tanned woman with white hair strode up besides Gangrel, wrapping an arm around his body. She wore black armour and had quite… revealing clothing to put it bluntly.

"No curtsy? Why I'm disappointed your grace. And the truth you seek I can give it to you." She had a seductive edge to her tone as she spoke.

"Perhaps milady might state her name first?" Emmeryn replied

"You may call me Aversa"

"Very well Aversa. Is lady Maribelle unharmed?" Gangrel gave a droll look as he spoke.

"Oh that little blonde brat" snapping his fingers together he called out behind him. "Bring the little lady forward please" At that a large man carried a blindfolded Maribelle forward, a sword to her throat. Despite her circumstances Maribelle still kept her… noble way of insulting people.

"Unhand me, you gutter-born troglodyte!" Lissa quickly ran forward, but I put a hand out to stop her from getting within range of arrow or spell fire.

"Maribelle are you okay!"

"Lissa? My darling is that you!" Aversa stepped up besides Maribelle and cupped her cheeks with her long slender fingers.

"This ill-mannered child crossed the Plegian border without our consent. She also wounded our brave Plegian soldiers who only sought to escort her home."

"You speak nothing but lies you hag! Did they not teach you the meaning of 'truth' within your witches' school!"

"See no manners at all. Such a nasty child had to be put in the naughty corner" Aversa tutted out. Gangrel then spoke out again in a mocking voice.

"Such a violent temper for one so young! Which only speaks for her guilt. This would take an CONSIDERABLE amount of good faith to repair our broken relations."

"They speak lies! THEY are the ones who invaded Ylisse. THEY were the ones that razed an entire village, and when I attempted to intervene, they captured me and dragged me across the border. Let that burning village and the dead innocents be my proof!" Maribelle spat out, Gangrel only let out another cackling laugh.

"Oh but that would only prove that Ylisse has a bandit problem. Something I hear often lately. Cwhahaha! But indeed I'll shed my salty tears into my pillow at the death of those villagers."

"Your Grace! Please!" Maribelle cried out desperately.

"Peace, Maribelle I believe you. King Gangrel, I request that you release this woman at once. Surely we can negotiate without a hostage?" Emmeryn continued to speak in a calming tone, to which Gangrel slapped his thigh before letting out his signature cackling of laughter.

"What and leave with no apology? Why should I even bother with parlay. I'm within my rights to have her head lopped off and be home in time for supper!" Chrom angrily stomped forward and raised his voice in anger.

"You bastard!" He tried to pull Falchion from his sheath but I quickly grabbed his hand, stopping him before the divine blade was fully drawn.

"Chrom, we can't" I said between gritted teeth, my own hand was shaking in anger as well. But if Emmeryn believed she could retrieve Maribelle without bloodshed, I had to put my faith in her. Gangrel looked down upon Chrom and myself, crouching down to the ground and speaking with a sneer.

"Control your mutts, your grace. Before somebody gets hurt" At that the soldier pressed his sword to Maribelle throat, reminding us what was at stake. Clearing his throat, Gangrel narrowed his eyes and stared down Emmeryn.

"Now then. Your grace, I believe a trade is in order! Give me the Fire Emblem, and I'll let Mary Contrary here run free."

"What purpose would you have for Ylisse's royal treasure?" Emmeryn replied with raised eyebrows.

"Because I know the legend of course! The Fire Emblem is the key to having all my wishes realised. I have desired it for YEARS. Alas my birthday comes and goes each year and I have yet to receive a present from Ylisse"

"The Emblem's power is meant for one thing King Gangrel. To save the people of the world in their hour of desperate need. What sort of wish could you make that could be more noble than that?" Gangrel let out another cackling laugh as he motioned with his hand to our large group.

"I want what every Plegian wants! To see a grisly end to all Ylisseans! I mean what could be more noble than that!" His voice was filled with crazed bloodlust. Taking a step back Emmeryn's face paled.

"W-What?"

"Surely you haven't forgotten what the last Exalt, YOUR father did to my people! He labelled us heathens in his 'crusade'. You Ylisseans butchered hundreds and thousands of my subjects and kin!" Emmeryn stayed silent for a moment before finding her voice again.

"I have never denied the wrongdoings that my father committed. But I have sworn to never repeat those mistakes. Ylisse is a haven of peace now" Gangrel only let out a frustrated growl before jamming a finer at Emmeryn.

"Your realm is a haven of hypocrisy! Now give me the damn Fire Emblem!" He was clearly getting desperate as more soldiers appeared along the ridge of the hillsides, armed for battle.

"Chrom, I'm not liking the look of this" I said looking between Gangrel and the new arrival of the soldiers.

"Agreed, we have to get Emm out of here." We both slowly backed up besides Emmeryn, hands to the hilt of our blades. Both Emmeryn and Gangrel continued to talk, before Gangrel clapped his hands together, frustration clearly plastered on his face.

"Ugh… talk-talk-talk-talk-talk. ENOUGH. Its at this moment that actions speak louder than words! Your luminosity I shall have the Fire Emblem, even if I have to pry it from your cold lifeless corpse" At that two soldiers slid down a hill and burst out into a charge at Emmeryn, swords drawn. Rushing forward to meet them I drew my blade, sidestepping a slash, I retaliated by slicing my sword under the soldiers outstretched arm. A fountain of blood gushed out as the man stumble to his knees screaming in pain, driving my sword through the back of his neck he slid off the blade and slumped to the ground. Chrom had apparently dealt with the other soldier and returned to Emmeryn's side. Flourishing my blade, I pointed it towards Gangrel.

"I wouldn't recommend sending anymore men, 'King' Gangrel. Unless they want to end up like their buddies" Letting out a whistle, Gangrel gave a small clap.

"Ooh so feisty and full of anger! I like it. But that is a declaration of war if I've ever seen one, and believe me I've seen a few" Aversa then walked over to Maribelle and removed her blindfold. She whispered something into her ear and soon tears streamed down Maribelle's face. Letting out a cackling laugh Gangrel turned to his men, raising his arms above his head.

"Alright men I have my war! Now kill every Ylissean that stands before you. Captain Orton!" At his command a black wyvern landed before Gangrel, the rider giving a bow to the Mad King. "You can expect reinforcements from those outposts. I want those Ylissean dogs dead, BUT leave her majesty alive. I have very special plans for her" With that Gangrel disappeared from sight, only the sound of his crow-like laughter was to be heard. Gritting my teeth, I ran back to the others.

"Sorry guys but I think I just started a war" I deadpanned. Emmeryn placed a petite hand on my shoulder.

"No Roland, King Gangrel is at fault here. You and Chrom were just protecting me."

"She's right. But Emm we have to get you out of here" Chrom then turned to Philia. "Philia take your knights and get Emm back to Ylisstol. We'll save Maribelle and catch up to you." Giving a salute Philia placed a hand to Emmeryn's shoulder.

"The prince is right your Grace. I'm afraid the time for negotiation is over, it is now the time for steel to be raised in the defence of our land" Emmeryn gave a solemn nod, turning her gaze to Chrom and myself.

"I understand. You all better come home safe with Maribelle"

"We will sister"

"Chrom, lets go. Robin will need us"

"Right!" We waved farewell to Emmeryn and ran off to find the tactician who probably had a strategy to win in mind already.

Running up to Robin. He was already giving orders to the Shepherd's, once finished he turned to Chrom.

"Chrom, good just in time. I need you to lead a squad and take out the soldiers to the west within those forts"

"Alright. But what about Maribelle?"

"I've planned for that already. The enemy would easily notice a large amount of people heading to her location, so I'm sending a smaller group of people to rescue her."

"So your using the larger squad as a distraction… nice thinking" And Chrom quickly ran off rallying the Shepherd's as he went. Turning to Robin I gave him an inquiring look.

"I'm guessing we're part of the rescue group since you haven't sent me off yet. Who else is with us?"

"Miriel and Lon'qu"

"Bit risky don't you think?"

"The smaller the group, the quicker we are" Lissa than ran up to Robin, clutching two healing staves to her chest.

"Robin please let me help rescue Maribelle!" Robin only gave a solemn shake of his head.

"Sorry Lissa. But I need you with the others, their going to need a healer"

"What! And you guys won't need one!" She stamped her foot, giving a pout. "I mean Roland is with you. So he's bound to get hurt!" Letting out a sigh I moved up and squeezed her shoulder.

"Lissa we'll be fine. You need to trust Robin on this" Lissa's head turned down to the ground, staying silent for a short while.

"Rgh… fine. But you all better stay safe and bring Maribelle back with you. Got it!" and she shoved one of the staves into my hands before running off to the Chrom and his squad.  
"Alright is everyone ready to go?" Robin asked, to which we all gave a nod. I handed the stave to Miriel as I would need both my hands to fight, and she slipped the stave between her belt. With everyone ready to go, we quickly ran up the steep slope towards Maribelle, who was still being held by the soldier. As we ascended the slope, two sorcerers appeared at the top and fired off multiple sets of fireballs. However, before they could detonate, Robin and Miriel shot off their own fireballs, causing a large explosion as the fiery magic collided mid flight. Dashing through the smoke caused by the magic explosion, and driving my sword through one of the sorcerers' shoulders, the other mage stumbled back and fired off a small fireball. Using the sorcerers' cloak I spun him around in front of me as a shield, the fireball colliding into the mans chest. Throwing the burnt man to the ground I rushed forward towards the mage, who was already charging up another fireball with an outstretched hand. However, before I could get there. Lon'qu jumped out and brought his blade down on the mans arm, slicing it clean off. The man let out a howl of pain as he clutched the stump that was his hand, before Lon'qu silenced him as his sword pierced his throat. Giving a curt nod as thanks, we continued our sprint towards Maribelle.

"We're almost there ano-" Robin was cut off as a small group of soldiers slid down the hill and begun to surround us. Forming up in a small circle we waited for the incoming attack.

"You were saying?" I deadpanned, Robin only gave an irritated growl and shot me a glare.

"Shut up… Roland, do you think you can get to Maribelle if we give you an opening?" I gave the ashen haired tactician a curious look.

"Sure. But what about you guys?"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out. But right now, saving Maribelle is our highest priority. Just be ready to go on my mark"

"And how will I know when to go?" He only let out a small chuckle as he began gathering lighting in his hands.

"Believe me you'll know" The enemy soldiers had finished circling us and had their swords and axes drawn.

"Miriel you ready?' The redhead mage only gave out a grunt in response as she was also pooling together swirling fire within her hands. The soldiers tightened their circle around us, malicious grins on their faces.

"Alright… NOW!" and both Robin and Miriel thrust out their hands, blasting a section of the soldiers with both fire and lighting. As soon as the magic detonated, I dashed through the gap within the enemy's soldiers' formation, rushing to the top of the hill towards Maribelle. Quickly looking back, I saw Robin, Miriel and Lon'qu had broken formation and were fighting the soldiers in a vicious all out brawl. _Damn it. I hope they get out of that alright._

Soon I reached the peak of the hill, and before me stood the soldier holding Maribelle and Aversa cupping the young nobles face, directing it towards the ensuing battlefield. Tears ran down Maribelle's face and I'm sure would have collapsed to her knees if the soldier wasn't holding her up. Bringing my sword up I pointed it to Aversa.

"Let her go" Aversa gave Maribelle's cheeks a squeeze and let out a laugh.

"Oh my! Looks like your saviour has come little lady. Aren't you lucky" I went to take a step forward but Aversa raised a slender hand.  
"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see this gentleman here has quite the twitchy hand, and it would be such a shame to ruin such a beautiful face" Letting out another laugh as she finished. _Damn it. Since I don't have any ranged weapons on me, I gotta stall for time until the others get here._

"What exactly does Plegia gain from starting a war with Ylisse anyways? Both countries haven't exactly recovered from the last one" Aversa only gave a shrug with a sly smile.

"How should I know? I just do whatever the king orders"

"Heh. So you're just a lackey are you? Figures" I retorted with a cocky grin to my face. Aversa gave out a small chuckle to my response.

"Cocky one aren't you. No wonder his majesty has taken a liking to you. The feistiness in your actions and not to mention that brilliant unbridled rage hidden within your eyes" Not taking my eyes off her I gave an exaggerated bow.

"I'm flattered by all the complements that you and your majesty have given me" Aversa gave a curtsy of her own before clapping her hands and walking off.

"As amusing as this little chat of ours is. His majesty can't be kept waiting…" Her voice then turned deadly serious as she flashed me a malicious smile. "We got what we came for. Kill the girl."

"No!" And I broke out into a sprint charging the soldier holding Maribelle. The man pushed Maribelle to the ground and raised his sword above his head. I was almost there before a torrent of black magic slammed into the ground in front of me, I turned to see Aversa holding a tome in one hand and shaking a finger at me with her other. The man gave a cruel laugh and brought his sword down to the defenceless noblewoman. However, the strike never came, as a blade of wind sliced into the man's back. The man stumbled forward before falling to the ground dead, behind Maribelle stood a short boy with a large wizard's hat on his head, his hand was surrounded by small blades of wind.

"Maribelle! Run now you're free!" and he took Maribelle by the arm, bringing her to her feet. Maribelle's tear filled eyes were wide with shock her mouth agape.

"Ricken! What are you doing here!?" Young mage only gave an irritated sigh, as he began to run off, Maribelle in tow.

"Just shut up and run! I'll explain later!" Aversa gave angry growl before stretching out her arm, her hand swirling with dark magic.

"Tch! It seems her little boyfriend has arrived. Not that it matters I'll kill you myself!" Shaking myself out the stunned shock from Ricken's arrival, I dashed towards Aversa and brought my blade down.  
"Sorry not gonna happen!" Aversa quickly spun around towards me and blocked my strike with a hand coated in black magic. Black sparks flew from our maintained block and I turned my head towards Ricken, who just stood holding Maribelle's arm looking at myself and Aversa.

"Damn it kid! Get her out of here. I'll hold off this witch" I growled between gritted teeth. Standing there for a couple of seconds he gave a quick nod before running down the hill, Maribelle in hand.

"Hold me off will you? I'll like to see you try!" And with her free hand Aversa launched another torrent of black magic at me. Breaking the block, I jumped back and barely dodged another wave of black magic. Quickly diving in close again, unleashing a flurry of blows on the dark sorceress, to which black sparks flew as she blocked with her own swirling orbs of black magic. Slapping my sword away with her magically coated hand, she jabbed an outstretched hand to my side and unleashed a blast of dark magic. Roaring in pain, I sliced at the arm that was releasing the dark energy, to which Aversa let out a scream of her own. Stumbling away from one another, we stared each other down. Black sleave torn a trail of blood streamed down her arm. I gazed down to my own injury to see the left side of my shirt and coat completely destroyed, and my ribs red raw and bleeding as bits of skin peeled away.

"You ruined my dress" Aversa deadpanned between ragged breaths. I turned my gaze back to her and saw her backing away.

"And your ruined my coat and shirt. Guess we're even." She let out a humourless laugh, as she clicked her fingers a swirling black and purple doorway appearing behind her.  
"Sorry to end our dance so abruptly, but I must be going now. But don't worry dear, I have another partner just for you" She snapped her fingers again, and a large brown wyvern and its rider slammed down to the ground in front of me.

"Damn it Aversa! Get back here" I tried to run at her, but the wyvern stopped me as it stretched out its claws. As they wrapped around my body, its claws painfully scrapped across my back as it begun to lift me off the ground.

"You damn lizard! I ain't got time to play!" I roared in anger. Suddenly a strange cool sensation filled my being, my body begun feeling light and my vision seemed to sharpen in focus. And just as quick as that feeling came, it was gone and replaced with a burning rage. Looking down to my sword, the black flames had returned, engulfing my sword in a blazing fire. The wyvern was startled by the sudden blaze, its grip loosened slightly. using this to my advantage I shoved my blade into its leg, causing it to give a piercing screech as it dropped me to the ground. Rolling to lessen the pain of the fall I burst out in a sprint towards Aversa, who was just entering the fabricated doorway. Her eyes widened in surprise, before a cool smile appeared on her face.

"Quite interesting…" And she disappeared through the doorway just as my blade came down, dispersing the magic doorway as it did so.

"Shit… I hate portals" I spat out, shoulders slumping. The wyvern let out another piercing screech as it loomed over towards me. Its rider wielded a long spear, a spear that was pointed directly at me. Bring up my flame engulfed sword in a defensive stance, narrowing my eyes I stared down the rider. The wyvern crouched down slightly before quickly pouncing at me, the rider also driving his spear towards me. As they flew through the air however, multiple blades of condensed wind sliced across the wyverns back, followed by lighting piercing its outstretched leathery wings. Diving under its claws I stabbed my sword up through its underside, and its blood flew from where my sword pierced its hide. And it landed with a heavy thud behind me, giving out one last weak screech before lying motionless. Walking up to investigate it, the rider was crushed underneath the heavy corpse of the wyvern. Letting out a sigh of relief I turned to see Robin and Ricken both with their hands outstretched from the recent casting. Walking up towards them, Robin gave a nod towards my sword, which was still on fire.

"Have you always been able to do that?" I brought my blade up and stared into the burning black flames. Closing my eyes and letting out a large breath, I relaxed my tense body, the flames sizzling out as I did so.  
"No not really, its kind of a recent thing" _But I think I have an idea on what causes my sword to ignite in the first place._

Once the flames sizzled out however, I felt a massive wave of exhaustion and I stumbled to my knee. Robin quickly leapt to my side as he placed a hand to my shoulder, worry etched onto his face. Ricken also hovered nearby giving a worried look of his own.

"Is everything alright?" I waved Robin off as I shakily pulled myself to my feet.  
"Everything's just fine. Little tired is all"

"A little? You look like hell" Robin replied as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, I hissed in pain as his cloak rubbed up against my raw skin and he gave me an apologetic look.

"Alright let's get back to the others. Oh boy, is Lissa gonna have a field day with you"

"Ugh don't remind me. How are the others holding up is the battle still going?"

"Most of the fighting is over. Chrom's squadron is just clearing out the stragglers now"

"But we got plenty more battles ahead of us…" We slowly made our way down the slope, Robin gazing out towards the Plegian mountains. Narrowing his eyes as he spoke.

"Indeed we do"

 _ **Authors Notes: Hey everyone first off I'd like to apologise again. I said I would get this chapter out in 2 to 3 days' time but I couldn't pull it off with my schedule. I Recently got a new job so the free time I used to have for writing is being shortened considerably. So from now on expect the chapters to come out on a weekly basis. Anyways now that's out of the way, this chapter was a massive and challenging one to write but I enjoyed it all the same. Roland gets to have a bit of fun with some of the Shepherd's and Emmeryn and there's new additions to the Shepherd's roster, and the war with Plegia has just begun. Anyways let me know in a review if you guys are enjoying the chapter and the story so far. Also please let me know on things that I can improve upon in my writing, as I want to make this story as best as I can, so you awesome readers can enjoy yourselves as we continue this journey. Alright see you guys next chapter!**_


	8. Knives in the Dark

_**Chapter 6: Broken Mask and Knives in the Dark**_

 _Once again we were travelling along the Ylissean plains. Having successfully rescued Maribelle from her Plegian captors, however it started a war with the Mad King of Plegia in the process. So now we rushed back to Ylisstol to prepare our defences and to formulate a strategy to take down the Mad King. I just hope that Ylisstol is in one piece when we get back._

Due to our fast paced march, we were only a few hours out from the capital. Everyone walked with a fierce determination… well everyone except me. Due to my injuries fighting Aversa I was delegated to sitting in the back of one the medicinal wagons, much to my annoyance. Every so often one of the Shepherd's would come to check up on me, see how I was doing and if my injuries felt any better. Honestly I was surprised to see how much everyone cared, I really wasn't used to this type of attention. Currently sitting besides me in the in bumpy wagon was Lissa. She had already came to see me plenty of times before, mainly to pester me about how reckless I was in the last battle and also to check my bandages and if my wound needed cleaning.

"At this point you're just trying to get out of marching. Aren't you?" I said looking to Lissa, who had her legs dangling off the back of the wagon and was kicking them back and forth in a carefree attitude

"W-Wha? No of course not! I'm here to check you're wound" She replied as she straightened upright, looking at me with a sheepish smile.

"You already did that last time. Besides if you keep this up Frederick might notice the lack of a marching princess" I said with a smug smile. As if being summoned by my comment, Frederick atop his horse trotted up to the back of the wagon. Giving me a curt nod he turned his attention to Lissa, the young princess let out a nervous giggle at his presence.

"Ah Lady Lissa, I've been searching for you. Lady Emmeryn requests your presence" Lissa looked between myself and Frederick in disbelief, before plopping down to the ground mumbling under her breath as she and Frederick walked away to the front of the convoy. Giving a small chuckle I stuck my head out the back and looked to see if they had disappeared, as soon as they left my sight I jumped down out of the wagon. Wincing slightly as I landed, I began walking besides the wagon taking in deep breaths of fresh air. Closing my eyes and stretching out my arms slightly, taking in the peacefulness of the Ylissean plains. Apparently I was enjoying my new found freedom too much, as I bumped into someone, causing the person to let out a startled yelp. Quickly opening my eyes and stretching my arms out to stop the person from falling, I noticed the person I had by the shoulders was a very displeased Maribelle. She gave me a furious glare and opened her mouth to speak, before slumping her shoulders and giving me an annoyed look.

"Oh its you…" she said flatly and begun walking again.

"Well you don't look too enthusiastic to see me" I replied as I withdrew my arms to my sides, walking besides her.

"W-Well its nothing to do with enthusiasm see. It's just I wasn't prepared to… um give my thanks and umm" She begun fiddling with her parasol, and mumbling under her breath. I gave her a strange look before speaking up.

"Are you trying to thank me or something?" Turning her gaze from the ground towards me, she opened and closed her mouth for a few moments before shaking her head to try and regain her composure.

"Well yes but…hold on a moment! You're not supposed to be walking around with those injuries"

"Pfft I've been stuck in that wagon the whole day. A little fresh air and stretching my legs won't hurt anybody" Waving her off and walking ahead slightly to prove my point. Giving out an exasperated sigh she quickened her pace to catch up.

"Well yes it won't hurt anybody else, but it will hurt you!" Despite her complaints we continued to walk besides the wagon, with Maribelle turning her face back to the ground and fiddling with her parasol again. We continued in silence for a short while before Maribelle cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders back in a proud manner, turning to me suddenly with regained composure.

"I Maribelle Charleston from one of the noble houses of Ylisstol would like to thank you for your efforts in rescuing me"

"Uh right…"

"Therefore I'll shall think of a task in order for me to repay the debt I owe you"

"T-Thanks but that's not-" However, before I could finish she extended her parasol out and began walking away. "Do not think about rejecting my offer. I would hate to be in debt to such a brigand for so long" And she strode off to the front of the convoy, leaving me standing in place as the wagon slowly rocked past me.

"Uhhh. I guess that's one way to thank somebody" _Man these guys are a bunch of weirdos_

Shaking my head, I picked up the pace to walk besides the wagon again, thinking with growing dread about what Maribelle had in mind.

 _ **XX**_

The afternoon sun was shining down upon us, as we finally reached the large gates of Ylisstol. As we walked through the large wooden gates we were thankfully greeted with a peaceful and serene city. The citizens going about their daily lives and once they caught sight of Emmeryn small droves of citizens crowded around her cheering her name in praise.

"Is it always like this when Emmeryn is out?" I called to Stahl, as we pushed our way past the ever growing crowd. Even on his horse the viridian knight had trouble moving though the stream of people.

"Yeah most of the time! I think its quite nice though…" He trotted up besides me and offered his hand, and I quickly took it before I could be swallowed up by the crowd… again. "When Lady Emmeryn is out in the city, it kinda gives the feeling that everything is going to be alright. Don't you think?"

"Yeah I guess. But It'll be better if you could just get past the crowd without being trampled to death though" I remarked dryly. Gazing back towards the gates, I saw Emmeryn atop her white horse, smiling and waving to the people of Ylisstol as she made her way through the crowd, however underneath her serene smile I could tell she was extremely worried. Her movements seemed more stiff and forced compared to the graceful way she usually carried herself. Knowing that, I couldn't help but be put on edge for what's to come over the months while being at war with Plegia. While stuck in deep thought, I was knocked out of my reverie as a large grumbling sound was made by Stahl, to which the knight let out a sheepish laugh.

"Ahaha, well I'm starving. Wanna come join me for lunch?"

"Stahl we had lunch like an hour ago. How can you be this hungry already?"

"Well technically that was second breakfast for me and this is right now, is lunch time. And besides time goes by slowly when we're marching" As he finished talking we reached the edge of the crowd, with a small grunt I dismounted from Stahl's horse, giving the stead a quick pat of its neck.  
"Well thanks for the offer Stahl. But I think I'll just head to the palace, enjoy your lunch" and I gave a wave to the knight, to which he returned with a wave of his own and made his way to the nearest restaurant. Absently gazing back towards the crowd I saw other members of the Shepherd's stumble their way out of the crowd, some of them going their separate ways into the city. A cool breeze swept through the area and I couldn't help but shiver due to not wearing my usual black coat, I threw away my last one along with my shirt. So at the moment I wore a simple loose brown shirt. _Well it isn't getting any warmer._ And I wearily trudged up towards the palace.

The soft shine of the moonlight poured into my room. Tossing and turning in my bed and with an irritated sigh I sat up, gazing around my illuminated room. Of course I was the only one in the room and I wasn't getting that feeling of suspense that usually precedes some form of attack. Pulling myself to my feet I gazed down to my newly healed injury, despite Lissa's best efforts it left a large scar that took up most of the side of my body. The scar itself looked like someone had poured boiling hot water down the left side of my body, and personally I really wasn't bothered by another scar to my body. The one thing I was bothered by was the lack of sleep I was getting. So letting out a gloomy sigh, I quickly threw on my boots and shirt and a new black coat. Picking up my sword as I left my quarters, and quietly closing the door behind me, I began walking around the palace grounds. The palace had quite a different atmosphere to it during the night, during the day there were politicians, nobles, servants and guards all buzzing around the palace attending to their various tasks. But during the night, there was a serene silence in the air, the only thing to break the silence was the odd servant going about their night shifts and the palace guards that clanked as they walked by on their patrol. Strangely some of the guards gave a stiff salute before continuing their patrol, I only gave a confused look as they disappeared around a corner. Giving out a shrug I continued my nightly excursion of the palace, I must of went further than I thought as I found myself standing the rear palace courtyard. It was larger than the central courtyard, as it had some training dummies set up near the outer walls of the palace. Small shrubberies and maple trees were dotted throughout the area and a large oak tree stood atop a small hill. Apparently I wasn't the only one wandering the palace tonight, as Chrom and Robin stood underneath the old oak talking to one another gazing up at the star filled sky. They must have noticed me standing out in the open and beckoned for me to come over.

"It seems we're not the only ones who can't sleep tonight. What's got you up so late Roland?" Chrom asked as I crossed the large courtyard towards them.  
"Eh just needed some fresh air. Plus, the healed skin on the side of my body is itchy as hell. What about you two?"

"I was up reading and preparing a list of supplies for what we'll need for our march tomorrow. Then I saw Chrom come out here"

"And I was dwelling on some… unpleasant thoughts" Chrom replied with a gloomy sigh, Robin placed a hand to the prince's shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. Silently urging him to speak on, Chrom let out another sigh before leaning against the oak tree and speaking.

"I'm just worried about Emm's wellbeing, the past war between Plegia and Ylisse left both countries on the verge of collapse. And our father left her quite the legacy to deal with, especially for a ten-year-old girl. Plegia's desire for revenge… our own people's burning unbridled rage. Since father had died, Emmeryn had become the target for blame from all sides, even her subjects hurled insults and stones towards her. She still bears the scars from them… but she stood tall and never let her pain be shown." Chrom clenched his fists and let out a ragged breath as he finished. Robin and I stayed silent for a moment before the tactician spoke up in somber voice.

"it must have been hard on her…"

"I wouldn't claim to know how she felt Robin. But personally I wouldn't greet such open hostility with patience and kindness. While our people mocked and insulted her, she reached out and healed them. She ended the war as she brought families home. And when the people 'forgave' her" Chrom let out a humourless laugh before continuing. "She never resented them for their hate. Emmeryn is the best part of this kingdom, the part that's worth most protecting. She IS peace. But men like Gangrel would take advantage of that, and the day he understands peace is the day death gives it to him… so perhaps I'll be deaths agent."

"Don't worry Chrom. We'll take down Gangrel together" And I motioned to the three of us. "And besides. Emmeryn is a strong person, this war won't break her"

"Thank you. Both of you, it means a lot to hear that" Chrom said with a small smile to his face.

"Well spoken, sirs." We all jumped out the sudden fourth voice and turned towards it, hands to the hilt of our swords. To our surprise the masked swordsman Marth had appeared and he stood before us a short distance away.

"Good evening to you all" His voice still carrying that cool stoic tone. We all visibly relaxed and our hands dropped back to our sides.

"How exactly did you get here?" Chrom asked, to which the masked swordsman let show a small smirk before indicating to a group of trees besides the training dummies.

"There's a small cleft in the wall, behind those dummies and the trees"

"There? But how would you. Err…" Chrom let out a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. Robin and I shared a confused glance to one another before I spoke up.  
"I'm guessing you know the place Chrom?"

"Ha-ha… ugh yeah. I may have accidently bashed in part of the wall while training the Shepherd's some years back." Robin gave him an exasperated look before the prince put his hands up in surrender. "H-Hey its only a small hole. And I thought I covered it pretty well…" Chrom mumbled the rest in embarrassment.

"Well clearly you didn't hide it well enough" I sighed out placing a hand to my head.

"Fear not. Your secret is safe with me." Marth said, the small smirk stayed on his face before dropping. "I only came here to warn you" a deadly seriousness enveloped his voice.

"Warn us? about what exactly?" Chrom asked with a confused look to his face.

"The Exalts life is in danger"

"What, Emmeryn? She's guarded at all hours. That's absurd, how can her life be in danger" Marth only let out a sigh, as if knowing Chrom would say that.

"What if… What if I told you I can see the future. A future… where Emmeryn is killed here. Tonight" He spoke slowly in an unsure manner, Robin placed a hand to his chin before speaking.

"Are you saying you're an oracle of some kind?"

"N-Not exactly. It's hard to explain…" Chrom, Robin and I all shared a look of disbelief before looking to the masked swordsman with the same look. Marth's shoulders slumped slightly before grasping his copy Falchion, drawing it out slowly.

"I expected as much. So allow me to prove it!" Before any of us could draw our blades Marth rushed past us and flipped into the air, bringing his blade down onto a man covered in black and wielding a small knife. Marth's blade cleanly sliced into the mans chest, a fountain of blade pouring out of the cut, the man gave one last gurgle before falling to the ground dead.

"I just saved you…" And he pointed to Chrom with his sword, before pointing it towards the dead man. "From him" And he flourished his Falchion before sheathing it. "I trust this proof will put away your disbelief" I looked towards Chrom and Robin with wide eyes, a look that was mirrored on their faces. Chrom shook his head and cleared his throat to regain his composure.

"Uh yeah… that'll do it" However, a small rustling in the oak tree above caught my attention and another man dressed in black burst out of the tree, flying towards Marth.

"Marth look out!" Calling just in time. Marth looked towards the man that landed in front of him, trying to draw his blade he jumped back only to trip over the corpse behind him. The assassin's short sword flew in an upwards arc and with a bright spark, cut through Marth's metallic butterfly mask. As the mask flew off Marth's face in two clean pieces his cerulean hair flowed out behind him, reaching past his shoulders and down his back. With a grunt the de-masked swordsman fell to the ground, Chrom rushed forwards his own Falchion drawn and he shoved it through the assassin's back. The man gave a screech of pain before falling limp as Chrom pushed him off his blade, reaching out his hand towards Marth, before shock filled his face.

"Wait, you're… a woman!?" Robin and I shared a glance before running over to Marth and Chrom. As it turns out Marth was indeed a woman, as Chrom pulled him… ugh… her to her feet it was easier to distinguish some of her features. She had long cerulean hair that cascaded down her slim shoulders, and her eyes seemed to have this… sad kindness to it. Marth gave a nod of gratitude as a smug smile appeared on her face.

"And quite the actress too. I'm surprised you three didn't figure it out until now, especially you" And she motioned towards me, the smug smile still on her lips.

"What do you mean… oh. OH" Now it finally made sense as to why she was so easily able to beat Lon'qu. During the fight Lon'qu must have found out she was a woman and using his fear of women to her advantage, she would have beaten him quite easily. _No wonder I was having a hard time against Lon'qu compared to her._

However, Marth's gender revelation was cut short as a loud explosion rocked the palace, even causing the ground to shake from here.

"We better go check that out. Come on!" And Chrom and Marth ran off towards the palace, I followed them before I noticed the lack of movement coming from Robin. Turning back towards him, I saw him holding the two pieces of the broken mask, staring at it in silent awe.

"Robin lets go! Their going to need us!" I called, snapping Robin out of his reverie.

"R-Right!" And he pocketed the broken mask inside his coat. Joining me as we sprinted towards the interior of the palace.

Another explosion resounded throughout the palace as we ran up the steps to the second floor. Looking out into the courtyard below, swarms of soldiers filled the area and a tall man with a black coat was shouting orders to the soldiers. I could only pick out bits and pieces as we ran by, mainly being 'kill the Exalt' and 'find the Emblem'.

"Chrom round up the Shepherd's within the palace! Roland get to Emmeryn before those assassins do. Marth and I will hold out until back up arrives" Robin shouted as another explosion blew open a set of doors below. I gave a brief nod in confirmation before I sprinted off ahead of the others. _Damn it! Probably would have been a good idea to get directions first… Okay if I was Exalt where would I have my chambers…_

Finding another set of steps that led to the third floor, bounding up them three at a time and once at the top continued my sprint across the third floor. At the western side of the floor a grandiose wooden door caught my attention, it was slightly ajar and there was a candlelight coming from within. Quickly running up to it I rammed my shoulder against one of the doors, causing it to fling open. Inside was Emmeryn backed up against a large circular bed and three men dressed in black and wielding daggers who all turned towards me as I stood in the doorway. They all stood there for a moment before one of them stepped forward and shouted to his comrades.

"Well don't just stand there! Kill him! The Exalt is mine"

"I don't think so pal" I growled between gritted teeth, ripping my sword from its sheath I quickly rushed down the three assassins. The first assassin jumped forward and swung his dagger across his body, parrying the slash and with my free hand grabbing his shirt and pulling him towards me, head-butting the bridge of his nose. The man let out a scream of pain as he tried to jump away, but not letting go I once again pulled him towards me but this time driving my blade through his gut. Pushing the body off my sword, the second assassin wielding two daggers jumped forward unleashing a flurry of blows. Due to the swiftness of the attack, it was all I could do just to block and parry the blows, even then I was still cut by the daggers. Pressing the attack, the assassin slowly drove me out of the room towards the outside railing. Jumping back to gain some distance I almost tipped over the railing, quickly gazing over the railing into the courtyard below, all manner of hell had broken loose as the palace guards were caught in a savage fight with the intruders and were being driven back into the interior of the palace.

"Nice view ain't it. Well time to die swordsman!" I quickly tore my gaze away from the scene below and turned back towards the charging assassin, who dove at me swinging his daggers in a wide arc. Taking a step back towards the railing just enough so that my back was touching it, I parried one of the daggers to the side as the other pierced into my shoulder. Giving a grunt of pain I dropped my sword and grabbed the assassin by the shoulders, and with a heave, flung him over the railing. The assassin's screamed and flailed through the air before he was silenced as he hit the ground the with a large thud.

"Yeah hope you enjoyed the fall…" I grumbled out as I picked up my sword and rushed back into Emmeryn's room, once inside Emmeryn was up against a wall and the assassin was on top of the bed on the opposite side of the room. It looked like he hadn't noticed me yet, so with a grunt I pulled the dagger from my shoulder and flung it towards the assassin. The dagger flew through the air and hit the assassin square in the chest… before bouncing off and falling to the ground. The assassin looked to the dagger on the ground before turning towards me and letting out a laugh.

"Do you even know how to throw those things?"

"Gods damn it. This isn't my night…" And I rushed towards the last assassin, who flung a dagger of his own towards me, causing me to roll out of the way before continuing my charge. As I got closer the assassin jumped from the bed bringing a dagger down in an overhead slash, quickly dodging back I retaliated with with a slash across the assassin's chest, to which he gave a scream of pain, before I dove forward driving my sword through his chest. Pushing the limp body off my sword before sheathing it and turning towards Emmeryn.

"Whew. That's that… are you alright?" I asked as I walked up towards her and inspected her for any injuries. Aside from a torn sleeve and a pale face she appeared to be unharmed.

"Y-yes I'm fine. But your shoulder, its bleeding!"

"What this? Its nothing. Right now I need to-" However, I was cut off as a window overlooking the city was shattered and another group of assassins jumped through the shattered glass. Grabbing Emmeryn by the arm I pulled her behind me and unsheathed my sword, pulling it up in a defensive position. _Gods damn it… I could probably take them out. But not when I have to protect Emmeryn at the same time_.

Keeping myself between Emmeryn and the assassins I slowly began backing out of the room towards the doorway, to which the assassins began pulling out their various weapons and slowly began to close in. As we slowly moved back I could feel Emmeryn's hands trembling against my back, taking a quick moment to look at her, her whole body was shaking and her pale eyes had tears welling up at the edges.

"Emmeryn. As soon as I let go of you, you need to get the hell out of here and find Chrom. I'll hold them off and meet up with you" I whispered towards her, turning my eyes back towards the assassins.

"What no! Roland I'm not leaving you here alone"

"This isn't up for debate! Look would you rather sacrifice the swordsman or the queen? Personally I would go the swordsman"

"I wouldn't sacrifice either one of them. Because their both getting out of here alive" At that remark I slumped my shoulders slightly before giving out a sigh.

"You're hopelessly optimistic. You know that?"

"And you're quite the fool for thinking otherwise"

"Are you two finished with your banter? Cause we'll like to kill you now" One of the assassin's remarked before charging towards us with a large axe, quickly jumping forward to meet him, I sliced my sword across his back as I dodged out of the way of a slash. The man fell to the ground with a scream and another two assassins took his place as they rushed towards me. However, another window was shattered as a large… rabbit? Bounded into the room and fell upon the group of assassins, slashing with its claws and biting into them in a savage manner. The two assassins that were charging at me were stopped dead in their tracks as they watched in horror as the rabbit tore apart their group, using this to my advantage I quickly drove my sword through one of their backs before ripping it out and slashing at the others throat. With a gurgling sound they both fell to the ground dead, however before I could turn back to Emmeryn, the large rabbit bounded towards me. Pulling my sword up in a defensive stance the rabbit crashed into me with its large body and drove me into the ground knocking the air from my lungs, my sword skidding along the floor as the rabbit's two front paws held my arms to the ground. It reared its head back revealing two buck teeth and a rather sharp looking row of teeth accompanying them, before it lunged its head towards my throat.

"Brave taguel stop! He is not the enemy!" Emmeryn's voice rang out as the giant set of teeth were inches away from my throat. The rabbit tilted its head slightly before a strange beast like voice rumbled from the creature.

"… I assume you are the leader of this warren. The Exalt Emmeryn no?"

"Yes I am the Exalt Emmeryn. And I beg you please do not harm this man, he's not with the others, he's protecting me" The rabbit stayed silent for a moment before turning its head down towards me, glaring at me with large red eyes. Suddenly it began to shrink and change, its jaws became smaller wider, the fur began receding back along its shrinking body and it definitely became a hell of a lot lighter. And with a blink of an eye, a young woman with large rabbit ears and brown fur covering parts of her body was sitting on top of me. Her legs were straddling the sides of my body and she still held my arms down above my head, in this… compromising position I begun to feel my face heat up from embarrassment. She turned to Emmeryn, flipping back a floppy ear as she did so.

"I had always thought queens had those man-spawn stumbling around in those stupid iron suits protecting them… not a rugged looking man-spawn, although…" and she bent her face down towards mine sniffing around my face, which only made my face heat up more. "This man-spawn is different…"

"Yeah that's great and all rabbit… but can you get off me!" I remarked in an irritated voice, to which the rabbit woman looked down towards me before releasing my arms and pushing off my chest to her feet walking towards the doorway.

"I am no rabbit man-spawn. I am a taguel, you will do well to remember that"  
"Yeah sure sure. Look if you're here to help you can begin by helping me get Emmeryn down to the lower levels towards our group" I replied dryly dusting my coat off as I pulled myself to my feet. The rabbit let out a snort before turning back towards me, placing her hands to her hips.

"I do not take orders from man-spawn, least of all you. I am here only because my warren owes a debt to Ylisse, once I have fulfilled it I will leave this place and be done with your savage race" I only gave an irritated sigh as I grabbed a (for some reason) red-faced Emmeryn by the arm, guiding her to the doorway, picking up my sword as we left.

"Sure whatever, lets just get going rabbit" And I walked past the rabbit woman with Emmeryn and began making my way down to the lower levels, I could her an irritated growl behind me as the rabbit woman joined us.

"I have told you before man-spawn, I am no rabbit!"

"And I'm not called man-spawn. Well do you have a name so I don't have to call you rabbit?"

"I am Panne of the taguel warren of eastern Ylisse" she replied in an overly proud manner.

"I'm Roland from nowhere... Now c'mon let's go" I replied in a sarcastic manner, before breaking into a jog still leading Emmeryn by the hand, Panne soon joining us as we made our way down to the lower floor. Luckily we didn't run into anymore assassins along the way down, and we soon found Chrom and the other available Shepherd's on the bottom floor.

"Chrom I've got Emmeryn!"

"Good I was starting to get worried, we've got a safe room established and Phila and her Pegasus knights are inside… Who's that?" Chrom replied as he cut down a charging soldier, before motioning towards Panne with Falchion.

"This is Panne, she's a rabbit who's here to help us" I replied with a small smirk, to which Panne gave a frustrated growl before transforming into her beast form and charging into a group of incoming soldiers.

"…That's helpful, c'mon this way" And Chrom began guiding us to the safe room. We ran up some short steps before rounding a corner to where Sully and Frederick where guarding the doorway and once they saw me with Emmeryn, quickly opened the door and ushered us inside. Chrom quickly gave Emmeryn a hug and a kiss to the forehead before leaving the room and returning to the battle, I turned to do the same but I felt a hand tug on the end tails of my coat. Turning around I saw Emmeryn with a worried look on her face, clutching at my coat.

"What's the matter, are you alright?"

"No I'm fine. But your shoulder, the bleeding has gotten worse" At her comment I looked to my shoulder from which I pulled the dagger from, a small flow of blood was oozing out of the wound.

"It's fine. I'm just pissed that I have to get my coat sewed up again" I replied nonchalantly with a shrug, to which Emmeryn gave a sigh before stepping forward and ripping at her silk sleeve.

"What are you- "

"Just be quiet, you fool…" And she wrapped the torn sleeve under my arm and around my shoulder, before tying it off in a tight knot. Her hand lingering on my shoulder before she stepped back and gave me a warm smile.

"This is so you don't bleed out helping the others"

"Right…" And I turned around and began walking out of the room.

"Just be careful alright!" I heard Emmeryn call out from behind me, to which I stuck out my arm and gave a thumbs up before leaving the room. Once outside I made my way over to Chrom, who was fighting a small group of soldiers. Rushing over I quickly joined in the fight, and we soon made quick work of the soldiers.

"So what's the plan, also where's Robin?" I asked curiously as we slowly pushed our way done the stairs towards where the palace guards where fighting the soldiers.

"Well now that Emm's safe we push back the Plegians and kill their leader. Also Robin is with Marth defending the front door to the safe room" Chrom motioned with Falchion down the corridor to where Robin was fighting side by side with Marth. The two made quite the team as Robin mixed both magic and sword play to keep the enemies back and Marth quickly dove in and out defeating any stragglers, and they slowly fought their way away from the door. Beyond that the rest of the Shepherd's were holding their own and begun pushing the enemy force back as well, almost driving them back into the courtyard. At this point Chrom and I were helping the remaining palace guards within the courtyard, it was a savage battle in which you didn't have time to plan out your actions, only move on instinct and reflexes. Once most of the threat were dealt with I jumped to the back of the group to catch my breath, before I noticed a dark shadow move towards me and I quickly swung my sword out towards it. However, I stopped my blade before it could make contact as I recognised the person before me.

"Gaius?"

"Roland?" The orange haired thief gave me a confused look, my face probably mirroring his own. We stood there for a moment, my blade still inches away from his neck, before Gaius gave a small smirk and chuckle. To which I gave an irritated growl and withdrew my blade.

"What the hells so funny? Also I almost just killed you by the way!"

"Oh nothing. Also YOU kill me? Think again Bandit" And he motioned with his head down towards where he had a knife pointed towards my stomach. Before he twirled it around and tucked it back into its sheath behind his back.

"So what are you doing here. Don't tell me you're with these guys to kill Emmeryn?" I inquired giving him a hard stare, to which he gave an offended look.

"What no! of course not. I mean sure I'll rob her blind, but I wouldn't harm a hair on her head. I swear it on my thief's honour"

"You do realise that a thief's honour isn't that honourable…" I gave a low sigh pinching the bridge of my nose. "So what? They hired you to steal something?"

"Yeah dark tall and handsome over there" and he motioned with his head towards the tall man with the black cloak shouting orders to the Plegians. "Wanted me to crack open a vault to steal some sort of Emblem… or something? I dunno I didn't ask to many questions" I gave a small scoff as he finished explaining.

"Clearly…"

"Roland who's this? A friend of yours?" Chrom had stepped back from the fighting and was giving Gaius a wary look as he stepped up besides me.

"Well I wouldn't exactly call us friends… Anyways this here is the sticky fingered thief Gaius. He saved my life a while back when I was working a job for some big shot noble in Valm, and he then proceeded to steal my share of the reward before running off" I gave the sweet thief an annoyed glare as I finished my explanation, to which he annoyingly gave a cheery laugh and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"Aw c'mon Bandit don't be like that. Let's just say YOUR reward was MY payment for saving your hide"

"He's also fond of giving people annoying nicknames…" I grumbled out, warily keeping an eye on Gaius's hands, just in case he decided to pull a fast one on me again.

"Hmm I see. Perhaps you would like to help us drive out these assassins then? We need all the help we can get to protect the Exalts life" Chrom offered as he sheathed Falchion and crossed his arms, still giving Gaius a wary look.

"Sure I didn't come here to murder the Exalt anyways. BUT you'll need to sweeten that offer of yours" And he gave Chrom a mischievous grin, Chrom gave an exasperated growl before speaking.

"What so you want gold then?"

"Clearly you weren't hearing correctly Blue. I said 'sweeten' the deal" Chrom raised an eyebrow at that statement, so I pulled away from Gaius and placed a hand to Chrom's shoulder.  
"Chrom do you still have those lollies that Lissa brought everyone?"

"Yeah why?" And he pulled a small bag of various sweets from his pocket. Even from here I could hear Gaius's mouth dripping with anticipation.

"Well this idiot here thinks sweets are more valuable then gold. So these will do just fine for his payment" And I took the bag and threw it to Gaius's eager hands.

"Now this is what I am talking about! Also this 'idiot' will take that gold too by the way" And he swiftly pocketed the sweet bag before turning to the incoming Plegian force and drawing his knife. I just gave another sigh before stepping up besides him, drawing my own sword.

"I'm sure you'll get your gold AFTER you've returned everything you've stolen" The sweet thief slumped his shoulders before giving an irritated glare.

"Pfft you're no fun…"

"No I'm not… you two ready?" To which Chrom flourished Falchion and Gaius flipped his dagger in the air as confirmation, and we all charged off to meet the incoming Plegian assassins.

With the additional help of Gaius and Panne, we easily drove the Plegian forces out of the courtyard and into the front gates. Soon there was only a small group of assassin's and their leader left standing.

"Curse you all! Killing Emmeryn was supposed to be an easy target!" The leader shouted out in a thick Plegian accent, as he slowly backed away from us. Chrom stepped forward and pointed Falchion towards the man.

"Surrender now! And we shall treat you with respect and dignity"

"Ha! Please I'd rather die than be a prisoner of you Ylissean dogs" And he shot a tendril of dark magic towards Chrom, however a bolt of lighting collided with it mid-flight causing small explosion. From the dust Robin stepped up besides Chrom, lighting still crackling in his hand. The Plegian sorcerer's eyes widened in surprise before a sly smile appeared on his lips. He quickly fired off two tendrils of dark energy towards Robin and Chrom to which Robin countered with his own lighting before both the Prince and the Tactician charged down the sorcerer. The rest of the assassin's tried to jump in and help their leader, but the rest of the Shepherd's stopped them from entering the fight. One assassin got close behind Robin but I quickly dove forward and slashed my sword across his back, the man gave a screech of pain before quickly turning around and wildly flailing his sword towards me. Ducking and dodging out of the way, I led him away from Chrom and Robin's duel with the sorcerer. The assassin gave an irritated roar before jumping to the air and bringing his sword down, pivoting to the side to dodge the strike I jumped behind the assassin and shoved my blade through his back. He gave one last gurgle before falling limp to the ground. Sheathing my blade, I viewed the rest of the area and most of the assassins were either dead or running away, which only left their leader. Chrom and Robin were pushing the attack leaving only the sorcerer to block their attacks with his magic, suddenly Chrom threw Falchion into the air and leaped into the air after it, catching it mid-air he flipped down and slashed the divine blade across the sorcerer's chest. Before the sorcerer could even cry out in pain, Robin leapt forward and with a sword coated in lighting brought it down across the sorcerer's chest as well, leaving a large 'X' shaped scar on the mans chest before it began violently dripping with blood. The man simply clutched at his chest in disbelief before looking towards the two men who brought him down.

"H-How… I was… destined… for greatness…" Before falling to the ground face first, a large pool of blood flowing out from under him. Walking up to Chrom and Robin I clapped them both on the shoulder.

"You know you two are show offs right?" Too which they both gave a sheepish laugh before returning their gaze to the body of the Plegian leader.

"I'm just glad this night is finally over, we should check our wounded first before dealing with the bodies of these intruders" Robin sighed out as his shoulders slumped, Chrom gave a curt nod in agreement.

"Aye. We should also thank Marth for her warning, without it I don't think we would have got to Emmeryn in time… speaking of which have you two seen where she went?"

"Good question. She was with us a moment ago"

"She's run off over there" and I pointed a finger down the hill towards the receding form of Marth. Chrom gave an irritated sigh before running off towards her.

"Damn it not again!" I shared a glance with Robin before I gave a sudden yawn, stretching out my arms as I did so.

"Well I think I'm gonna hit the hay. If you need my help with anything you know where to find me" And I gave Robin's shoulder a quick squeeze before making my way back towards my room. _Man this was a long night. I guess it never hit me that Ylisse is at war with Plegia until now._

Opening the door to my room I quickly threw off my long coat and flopped onto my bed, sleep taking me almost immediately.

 _The blackest darkness enveloped my very being a terrible feeling of utter despair seemed to fill my soul._

' _Who are you! What are you!?'_

 _A primordial voice filled with anger echoed around before crimson red eyes lit up the darkness._

' _I am your salvation. I am ruin. I am death. I am Grima!'_

Quickly sitting up I clutched at my rising and falling chest, my whole body was drenched in a cold sweat. And my head seemed to burn as if my mind was on fire. Seeing my reflection in the window my eyes seemed to slowly fade from a crimson red to its natural brown.

"The hell was that dream…" 

_**Authors Notes:**_ _Hey everyone, yet again I'll like to apologise for the delay but this time it was not my fault for the delay… well partly. The hard drive for my laptop literally died which meant I lost all my progress on this chapter, and I had to buy a new hard drive. Once I had everything working again I just lost all motivation for writing for a couple of days, but I didn't want to let you guys down so here we are! A full week over due for this chapter but better late than never. Anyways once again thank you guys for reading and let me know in a review of what you think of this chapter and a story as a whole. Thanks again for reading and I'll see you guys next chapter (Which will hopefully be on time for next week)._


	9. Burning Capital

_**Chapter 7: Burning Capital**_

 _Thanks to Marth's foresight of the future, we managed to foil the attempted assassination of Emmeryn. We also gained two new allies in the process, the sugar thief Gaius and the proud taguel warrior Panne. Now with Philia's squadron of Pegasus Knights we marched to the Eastern Palace of Ylisse, to protect Emmeryn from any further Plegian threats. I just hope we don't encounter any more Plegians along the way._

The original plan once we got back to Ylisstol was to march to Regna Ferox to request more soldiers in the upcoming battle with Plegia, however the plan changed since the failed assassination attempt on Emmeryn's life and now we were marching along the Ylissean coast towards the Eastern Palace. Lissa told me the Eastern Palace was constructed for royal getaways and respite from the political climate of the capital, as such it was apparently much smaller compared to the main palace of Ylisstol, but small for a royal princess could still be the size of a city district for the average commoner. So as we continued to march, I was lost in thought for a while before I noticed something very strange with Lon'qu, walking up besides the stoic swordsman only confirmed my suspicions with his abnormal behaviour.

"Ugh Lon'qu. Why are you following Lissa around so closely? I thought you hated women" He gave me a quick glance before looking away and narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I don't hate anyone. Women put me on edge is all…"

"Okay… but you still didn't answer my question" Walking in front of us Lissa then turned on her heels to face us and began walking backwards, a cheery smile to her face.

"Oh well ever since the attack from three nights ago, Chrom thought I might be a target for Plegia. So he made Lon'qu my bodyguard, although he won't let me get any close than ten paces" And Lissa gave a small scowl as she finished before turning on her heels again and begun walking away, Lon'qu gave a small grunt and folded his arms before quickening his pace to stay within ten paces to Lissa. I raised an eyebrow as I turned to Lon'qu giving him a questioning look.

"And your alright with this?"

"If I'm ordered by Chrom to be her bodyguard, I'll bear my discomfort and perform my duty" he replied in his usual stoic voice, Lissa gave out an annoyed moan before calling out behind her.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing that your protecting me!" Lon'qu gave the smallest of smiles at her response. I gave the odd couple one last strange look as Lissa begun making her way to the front of the convoy towards Emmeryn and Chrom, with Lon'qu following closely behind. Quickly shaking my head to snap myself out of my reverie I called out to Lissa before she could disappear from my sight.

"Wait Lissa! Do you know where Miriel is?" The young princess stopped dead in her tracks before placing a finger to her chin, comically Lon'qu almost ran into her but jumped back at the last second, an annoyed look in his eyes.

"Hmm I think she's at the back of the convoy. Probably reading or something"

"Okay thanks!" and I raised my hand in farewell before turning around and making my way past the various wagons and one regal looking carriage that housed one of Ylisse's hierarch's eventually making my way towards the end of the convoy. Eventually I found Miriel who was leaning against Sully's back reading a thick tome, her legs dangling over the back of Sully's horse as they gently bounced up and down as the horse trotted along the path. As I approached them Sully raised her hand in greeting, to which I replied with a curt nod and Miriel didn't seem to notice my presence as she was too engrossed in her reading. Walking up besides the sturdy stead who didn't seem to mind the extra passenger it was carrying I cleared my throat before speaking.

"Hey Miriel can I borrow you for a moment?" The redheaded mage perked up at my voice glancing around the area in search of the source of my voice before Sully tapped her on the shoulder and pointed down towards me.

"Oh greetings and salutations to you Roland. Do you need my assistance in some task?"

"Yeah, I need to borrow your… err…knowledge and expertise's for a minute or two" Miriel gave me an inquisitive look before tilting her head in confusion.

"I'm afraid I do not follow your line of inner thought Roland" Sully and myself both gave a deep sigh before the red-haired knight spoke up.

"He wants to ask you a couple of questions"

"My if that's what you wanted you should have just asked" And she placed a bookmark within the large tome before handing it off to Sully, who easily took it from her and placed it within her lap before giving Miriel a hand off her horse. The mage gave a curt nod to Sully before adjusting her glasses and turning to me, Sully began moving her horse further away to give us some privacy.

"Well in what assistance can my expertise and knowledge provide you?" Miriel inquired. I stayed silent for a moment thinking of a way to phrase my question so I wouldn't have to get a long complicated explanation in return, but knowing Miriel I would get one anyways.

"Well I was just curious on how you can perform magic… well more like how do you know if have the ability to cast spells and stuff…" I gave a deep frown and an irritated sigh as I confused myself with my own question, Miriel however only stayed silent for a moment before seeming to grasp the concept of my question.

"Well when casting spells, I draw upon the ethereal energy or otherwise known as mana from my own physical form and the latent interior mana of a tome. By connecting the two ethereal matters one is able to summon a physical embodiment of an element… And for how to discover if a subject has the innate ability to perform spell-casting, that depends on the subject. Some may discover their abilities by mere chance others dedicate tremendous amounts of time to learning the art…" Miriel opened her mouth to say more but she quickly closed it before narrowing her eyes and began looking over me. My already confused stare at her explanation quickly changed to one of surprise, as Miriel grasped the hilt of my sword and pulled it from its sheath and examined the curved blade.

"Miriel! The hell do you think your doing" and I tried to snatch my sword back but Miriel pivoted on her heel stepping to the side so that my hand grasped at nothing but air. The mage didn't seem to notice my growing irritation as her brows furrowed before turning back to me and handing my sword back.

"I had a thesis that your line of questions would be related to your sword and how it can spontaneously combust into flames. Am I correct?" Taking back my sword and sheathing it, I folded my arms and gave her a curious look.

"Yes you would be correct. But how would you know I would ask about it?" Miriel simply adjusted her glasses so that the sunlight would shine off the lenses and gave a small smirk.

"That is quite easy to explain. One might call it simple"

"Yeah yeah, can you get to the point?"

"The evening before we left for our march towards Ylisse's Eastern Palace, I happened to see you in the rear courtyard sitting down and glaring at your sword while also shouting out various commands. Such as 'Fire' 'Burn sword' and my favourite quote 'Flame on' this was then followed by some vulgar language and you storming off back to the palace. Overall I found the situation somewhat humorous" I gave an irritated growl as I felt my face go red, I was hoping no one was around when I tried out that stupid idea.

"Okay you made your point. But that still doesn't explain on why you just yanked out my sword just now"

"I was merely examining the blade to see if it contained any magical properties"

"And?"

"The sword contains no hint of any form of magic" I gave a deep frown before gazing down towards my sword. _Well my sword not being magical makes sense, but damn it. I hoped talking to Miriel might give me more of an idea on why this is happening to me._

"However…" Miriel spoke up again and I turned my gaze towards her as she was fidgeting around in her large satchel. "I have compiled various notes on the subject, with your assistance I might be able confirm various hypothesis's" She then begun pulling out various little notebooks with different titles penned onto them, most of them being the names of all the Shepherd's.

"Ugh Miriel. Do you keep notes on all of the Shepherd's?"

"Of course I do. In a large diverse group such as this I can find many interesting subjects to explore and experiments to develop"

"Right…"

Eventually Miriel pulled out a thin olive notebook with my name on it and begun flipping through the pages. I managed to catch a glimpse of a couple of pages, mainly a small biography which thankfully wasn't very detailed and seemed to be a lot of guesswork.

"According to my notes, your sword begins to combust in very high stress situations"

"Yeah I guess you could say that…" Sarcasm tinging my voice.

"Would say there was a common emotion that you experienced throughout these circumstances?"

"Miriel I'm not really thinking about my emotions when I'm trying not get stabbed or incinerated by magic" The red-haired mage gave a deep sigh as she adjusted her glasses again.

"Yes I would think so. But in hindsight, what would your most common emotion be during these events?" I placed a hand to my chin and narrowed my eyes in deep thought. _Most common emotion? Well probably excitement I guess… no perhaps…_

I stayed silent for a short while before letting out a frustrated groan and crossing my arms again.

"Rgh I dunno… excitement prob- "

"Excitement is not an emotion Roland; it is a feeling. Please do try to take this seriously"

"Of course I'm taking this seriously, but I don't see how are my emotions are connected to my sword catching fire?"

"When summoning an element from a tome, a novice often focuses on a specific emotion such as joy or sadness, that will enhance their ability to connect their own mana to that of the tome. Eventually they become deft enough to be able to summon an element without the need for the emotional catalyst, and drawing upon the mana of a tome becomes second nature… Are you satisfied with my response?" I stayed silent for a while pondering over Miriel's explanation, before growling in frustration again and throwing my hands in the air.

"Argh damn it I can't think of anything!"

"This is nothing to lose your temper over Roland-" At that mention of my 'temper' something in my head clicked, and everything became a lot clearer. Snapping my fingers, I turned to Miriel with a grin on my face.

"Hah! Miriel you're a genius!" The mage just tilted her head and gave me a perplexed look.

"I'm afraid I do not follow"

"My common emotion or whatever, it was anger. Anger at the thought of losing a fight, of someone getting in my way or someone running from our fight" I spoke in a quick excited tone, Miriel just blinked her eyes for a couple of moments before scribbling in her notebook. As Miriel was writing away in her notebook, the chestnut owl quill furiously scratching away, another question popped into my head and my shoulders slumped slightly as inwardly groaned about the inevitable long winded response I would receive if I asked it.

 _Well I've already received two long convoluted explanations, might as well get a third._ Letting out a small sigh I turned to Miriel who was still scribbling away and cleared my throat hoping to catch her attention.  
"Uh Miriel. Now that we have an… idea that anger causes my sword to ignite. Uh what now?" However, she didn't appear to hear me as she continued to write away, she even begun to mumble to herself before slowly pacing away. 'Hey Miriel! Where are you going? Hey… ugh damn it" Eventually Miriel disappeared from view as she climbed into the back of one of the wagons, I simply stood there with my hand in the air and my mouth agape as I watched the receding form of Miriel. A loud booming laugh came from Sully as she trotted back besides me, closing my mouth I gave the knight a 'what the hell?' look.

"Ah don't worry about it. Once Miriel gets lost in her own little world, its impossible to get a response from her"

"Right…" _These people are seriously weird._

The rest of my afternoon march was spent making small talk with Sully, nothing to deep and personal and nothing to cheap and unnecessary, which was actually quite pleasant. When evening came we made camp along a large river stream that flowed down from the mountains, surprisingly there was an upbeat atmosphere around camp which was only amplified as Emmeryn joined in the antics around the campfire. Hierarch… Salvador? I think that was his name, was sitting besides me on a smooth stone and he gave a pompous scoff as Emmeryn danced around the campfire with Lissa in hand, before he dusted off his ornate robes and begun walking back to his equally ornate tent that stood out like a sore thumb amongst the bland white canvas tents that the Shepherd's carried.

"A queen should not be acting like some traveling gypsy woman…" He grumbled out as he turned his gaze from Emmeryn to something in the distance, following his gaze it turns out he was looking to the tall mountain peaks that dominated this area of Ylisse. Giving a large gulp the old hierarch pulled his robes closer around him before he disappeared into his tent. Pulling my gaze away from the mountain peaks I warily eyed the ornate tent.

"Hmm"

"Everything alright Bandit?" The sudden voice of Gaius appeared from the once empty space besides me, pulling my eyes away from the hierarch's tent I turned to the sugar thief.

"Yeah everything's good… The hierarch's kind of an asshole though" I replied with a tinge of venom in my voice, the thief gave a small chuckle as he pulled a small lollipop from one of his pouches before sticking it in his mouth.

"Ain't that the truth. I've heard some unsavoury stories about that man, so him being an ass isn't that surprising"

"Then why would Emmeryn have someone like that as one of her advisor's?"

"Well that's a question for one of our royal friends" I only gave a small grunt in response and turned my attention back to the burning campfire and the merry dancing around it.

 **XX**

The next day when the afternoon sun was shining high in the sky, we were deep within the mountain range of Ylisse. With the tall jagged peaks reaching to the sky and the narrow paths overlooking a deep canyon with rushing water below, slowing down our progress as it forced us to carefully make our way through the winding path. Eventually the path widened out into a small clearing within the mountains and the convoy slowed to a halt, as it was decided we would take a short rest here.

"Ugh… my feet and legs feel like pudding. Why did we have to go hiking through the mountains again?" Lissa let out an exasperated moan as she sat down on a small rock tugging off her boots to rub her feet. Robin sat down next and wiped the sweat from his forehead, taking a gulp from his water skin before speaking up.

"Because we're trying to be discreet Lissa. And besides, going through the mountains is the quickest way to the palace… although I do agree that hiking through here is exhausting"

Turning away from Robin and Lissa as they continued to complain about their feet, I turned my attention to hierarch Salvador as he nervously paced within the clearing, his gaze flicking between the jagged mountain peaks. _Something's not right with him…_

"…Right Roland. Ugh Roland?" Chrom's voice penetrating my reverie as he tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"Huh? Oh yeah sure..." And I gave Chrom a quick glance before turning away and walking towards the hierarch. The hierarch didn't notice my approach as he was still nervously gazing between the mountain peaks.

"Hey old man" My voice making him jump in surprise as he turned his gaze away from the peaks towards me. "What's got you quaking in those robes of yours?" The hierarch opened and closed is mouths a few times before finding his voice.

"O-Old man!? How dare you I am a-" I took another step towards him placing my hand nonchalantly on his frail shoulder, leaning forward slightly as I towered over him.

"You're not answering my question old timer. What's got you so scared?" The hierarch seemed to shrink back in my presence as he let out a nervous gulp.

"W-Well it's just some ghastly times that we're in. Being at war with Plegia…" He trailed off near the end as he begun fidgeting with his hands.

"Hrm right. But that doesn't explain why you've been looking at the mountain peaks with every chance you get…" His eyes widened in surprise and he began shakily backing away "…In fact you've been looking at them ever since we began marching." He continued to back away, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, but before he could get too far I snagged him by his collar and pulled him closer towards me.

"What the hell are you hiding old man" Speaking with a fierce growl, he seemed to whittle back in my grasp, his face pale and dripping with sweat.

"I-I-I have n-no idea what your talking about! Now unhand me you filthy-" Suddenly a piercing screech filled the air, causing me to drop the hierarch and cover my ears from the sound. _What the hell is that!? It's like dragging your nails across a board!_

Not long after another screech sounded soon after the first, and two large green wyverns slammed down into the ground on the opposite side of the clearing, causing a plume of dust to erupt around them. _Crap that isn't good_

Looking down towards the hierarch curled up on the ground covering his ears I gave an annoyed grunt before turning away and rushing towards Chrom and the others.

"Roland! Where's hierarch Salvador?" Chrom shouted out still covering his ears from the last wyvern screech. Shaking my head to rid myself of the ringing in my ears, I pointed back over my shoulder towards the hierarch.

"That old dastard? Curled up on the ground over there. But that's not our biggest problem"

Another wyvern screech interrupted Chrom before he could reply, and from the plume of dust emerged a large muscular man wielding a large battle axe, a malicious smile planted to his face as he took in a large breath of air.

"Ahhhhhh. Now isn't that some fresh air, too bad its ruined by these Ylissean pigs scurrying about. Speaking of which, oh princey come out and play! Ahahahaha."

"I think he's looking for you" I said to Chrom with a small smirk to my face. Chrom gave an irritated sigh before replying.

"You think?"

"You two save the banter for later we have a situation on our hands. Look" Robin said as he pointed to the scurrying figure of hierarch Salvador moving towards the man with the axe.

"Hold Sir Vasto! I'm the man King Gangrel ordered you to protect in exchange for the information I provided" _Rgh I knew that geezer was bad news._ Looking to the others around me, Chrom, Lissa and Emmeryn had looks of shock on their faces, while Robin and myself shared a look of grim realisation of Salvador's true intentions.

The man called Vasto gave Salvador an inquiring look before giving a scoff and drawing his large battle axe, slowing walking to the old hierarch.

"Aye. But I see no man here, only a cowardly traitor who would trade his own queen and country for his life." Realising the situation he was in, Salvador began backing away from Vasto a look of utter terror etched to his old weathered face. Eventually he was at the edge of the ravine with Vasto was towering over him, they exchanged some more words but I couldn't make it out from this distance. Suddenly Vasto stepped forward and booted Salvador over the edge of the ravine, the hierarch's screams echoing around the area before suddenly cutting off, Vasto then turned to face us, a bloodlust smile to his face before he raised his voice.

"Your next your majesty!" His large battle axe pointing directly towards Emmeryn, Chrom let out a furious growl before ripping Falchion from its sheath and raising it above his head.

"Shepherd's prepare for battle!" He then turned to face Emmeryn guiding her back towards the end of the convoy, a worrying look in his eye.

"Emm, go to the back of the convoy we'll take care of these Plegians."

"No. I've just received word from one of the Pegasus knights stationed in this area that a large Plegian force was seen heading to the capital. So that is where I must go." She replied as she gently shook free from Chrom's grasp.

"But- "

"No buts Chrom. I should not have left in the first place, if the citizens find out of my departure, there could be riots and more needless death within the capital" Emmeryn made her way to her white stallion and removed a large shield with intricate engravings and five indentations that look like they house some kind of gem, that was strapped to the side of the horses' saddlebags, and handed it to Chrom.

"Chrom I entrust this to you. Take it to Regna Ferox for safety"

"The Fire Emblem? But why? Why now?"

"It will take too much time to explain and time is of the essence right now. But know this, the Emblem possess tremendous power and must be kept out of Plegia's hands."

"Emm! All this is happening way to fast! But let me come with you to the capital" Lissa ran up towards Emmeryn with tears lacing the edges of her eyes. Emmeryn gave a solemn smile before wrapping her arms around Lissa and planting a kiss to her forehead.

"I'm sorry my little sunflower, but you have to stay here and look after our reckless brother. He's going to need you."

"B-But…" Emmeryn then walked up and also gave Chrom a hug and a kiss to his forehead, whispering something in his ear to which he responded with a determined nod. Once Emmeryn released him she begun preparing her horse to ride out, and it was only now that I realised while everyone one was preparing for battle, I was standing with my hands in my coat pockets basically watching the royal family say their farewells to one another. Which really considering isn't my highest priority right now since we are basically under a Plegian assault. As I began to walk away Chrom turned to me with a fierce determination, placing a hand to my shoulder in a tight grip.

"Roland go with Emm and protect her, it'll make me feel a hell of a lot better knowing you're there saving her from her good intentions"

"I… right" And I gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before making my way over to Emmeryn.

"Roland!"

"Huh?" and I turned back to see Chrom with clenched fists staring at me in anxiety.

"Say you'll protect her… please." Staying silent for a few moments I placed a clenched fist above my heart and gave my chest a pound with my fist.

"Don't worry Chrom. I'll protect her and make sure she gets back in one piece to you and Lissa. That's a mercenary's promise"

"Thank you Roland…" And with that I turned away from him and made my why to Emmeryn who was struggling to get atop her horse, grabbing her by the waist to which she gave a squeak of surprise, I quickly heaved her atop the horse and strapped her feet in the stirrups.

"Roland what are you- "

"Saving you from your good intentions. Now let's get going" and I jumped up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist as we began trotting away.

"…Thank you Roland"

As we began making our way through the winding paths, Phila and her squadron of Pegasus Knight's flew in around us in a tight formation.

"Your Grace, myself and my squadron will accompany you to the capital."

"Thank you Phila. Now let us make haste to Ylisstol!"

And with a flick of the reins we began galloping away from the sounds of battle, back through the mountain paths and towards the open plains of Ylisse. I just hope we can make it back before any Plegians reach the capital.

 _ **XXXX**_

Over the course of riding a full day and part way through the night only taking necessary rests to allow the pegasi and Emmeryn's horse time to recover their stamina. Eventually with the stars dulled by the clouds in the night sky the capital and its city lights, were within sight, and it seems to be untouched from any Plegian force. However, as we rode closer towards the capital and the many buildings scattered around the city became more detailed and visible, something was horribly wrong.

"N-No this can't be" Emmeryn's voice cracked as we stared down at a Ylisstol with multiple fires burning bright, dark plumes of smoke rising high into the darkness of night as they joined the clouds. Multiple wyverns circled the city, some swopping down only to rise back up into the air only to drop something or someone back to the ground. As this scene unfolded before us I could feel Emmeryn shaking in the saddle in front of me, quickly grasping on her shoulders and giving a quick shake I spoke in a rushed voice.

"Emmeryn we need to get moving… now!" and I kicked my legs into the horses' sides to get it moving, to which it promptly began galloping towards the capital, Phila and her squadron following close behind. Galloping closer to the city gates which were wide open with multiple scorch marks along the hinges and one gate had even fallen off, Phila made a hand signal to the rest of her squad and they quickly rose into the air.

"Roland! protect her majesty! We need to eliminate as many wyverns as we can and evacuate any civilians to a secure area!"

"Right! good luck Knight!"

"Good luck to you too mercenary!" And she flew off to join the rest of her squadron, turning my attention away from her. _At this pace we should be within the city in a minute or two_.

After a minute of hard galloping the white stallion leaped over the broken city gate and skidded to a halt along the stone pavement, however as soon as we entered a large black wyvern with a bloodied Pegasus and its rider within its talons slammed into a nearby building, crashing through the roof in a horrible screech. The horse we were riding was spooked by this and reared back and bucked us off and bolted out of the city, resulting in me slamming into the hard pavement and Emmeryn landing on top of me.

"Damn horse… Emmeryn you okay?" With a grunt I sat up, holding Emmeryn by the shoulders as she stared off into space. _She's probably in shock, can't say I blame her._

"Emmeryn" And I gently shook her by the shoulders and helped her to her feet, this seemed to get her attention and she turned her head up to face me.

"We need to get to get out of the open. Where would the safest place be?" I kind of had an idea already on where to go, but right now I had to get Emmeryn's mind off this chaos.

"…S-Safest place would be the palace, but the people we need to help them"

"We can and we will, but first we need to get you somewhere safe. And if the safest place is the the palace, Phila would be evacuating the people there as we speak. So let's go and stay close to me" And I grabbed her by the hand and began guiding her through any alleyways or buildings that weren't out in the open, which was difficult as some alleyways were blocked by collapsed buildings or burning fires and we had to double back a couple of times. And if any Plegians ran by we quickly hid behind anything we could find. After some time had passed and thankfully we didn't run into too many patrols, I had to leave Emmeryn in a hiding spot to take out a duo of soldiers once, as they blocked a passage leading to the main square and the pathway towards the palace. I didn't have to be too quite in killing the soldiers as the sounds of chaos muffled out any smaller scuffles, and with them out of the way I signalled Emmeryn to join me at the edge of the town square, still hidden in an alleyway. As she moved up to join me I saw her face pale slightly as she saw the two dead soldiers I killed lying against the wall but she shook her head and turned to face me.

"Your doing good Emm and were almost there. But… damn it from here to the palace its just open ground, so we'll have to make a run for it and-" I was then cut off by the sounds of a very distinct laughter, I only heard it a couple of times before but its impossible to not recognise.

"Cwahahahah! Oh what fun! Even the Ylisseans are screaming in delight Cwahahah!" _Gangrel…_

Turning away from Emmeryn and peeking my head around the corner so I could see within the city square. Atop a burning wagon, head bent back in manic laughter and surrounded by a small group of soldiers, was the Mad King of Plegia himself. Gangrel. Without even thinking I placed my hand to the hilt of my sword and began to stand up and move towards the Mad King, however a small hand grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back. Turning around Emmeryn with tears lacing the edge of her eyes was grasping me by the arm, her lips trembling slightly as she tightened her grip.

"Roland you can't, you'll die!" she spoke in a hushed voice that cracked slightly as she spoke.

"Emmeryn the King of Plegia is right there, I can end this war before it even begins right now"

"You won't get within ten feet of him before guard's swarm you. Please Roland for once do not go rushing off to a fight you can't win." At this point tears were streaming down her pale face, her body shaking slightly as she sobbed. Removing my hand from the hilt of my sword I gentle wrapped my arms around Emmeryn's shoulders and pulled her into a hug, leaning my head down slightly so my chin rested atop her head, we stayed like this in silence for a while. Eventually I pulled back and gave her a solemn smile, ruffling her hair with my hand.

"I'm sorry Emmeryn but I have to try. Just promise me no matter what happens you'll stay hidden, cause if you don't Chrom will kill me." Despite our situation Emmeryn let out a small chocked laugh from my attempt at a joke, leaning her head against my chest.

"Heh you utter fool… but I guess there's nothing I can do that will stop you?"

"Nope"

"Fine… but you better live you hear me, that's a royal order from the Exalt okay?"

"Heh, as you wish your majesty…" And turning away I pulled my curved blade from its sheath and walked out of the alleyway and into the square.

"Gangrel!" I called out once I was out in the open away from the alleyway where Emmeryn was hiding. The soldiers surrounding Gangrel quickly spun around with weapons drawn and began to circle around me, however Gangrel raised his hand and the soldiers stopped their encirclement.

"Well well if it isn't… ugh who are you again?"

"The names Roland. And I'm here to end you" And I pointed my sword to him for a flourish.

"Oh ho! Ominous!" And he let out another cackle of laughter, before leaning forward with a bored expression to his face. "Well apology's Roland but I don't have time to play with wannabe heroes. Kill him" With that the three guards circling me all dove forward their weapons lashing out. The closest soldier swung his sword in a wide arc, sidestepping out of the way I slashed at his exposed throat and grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around in front of me just as another attempted to spear me with his lance, only to stab his ally instead. Still holding onto the swordsman's shoulder I pushed him forward his body going limp as the lance dug deeper into his abdomen and he fell onto the lance soldier, causing them to crash to the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Die dog!" A voice roared, to which I quickly spun around to see a large battle axe being swung by a muscular man, falling to my knees to avoid the axe as it flew over my head in a wide slash causing the soldier to stumble forward. Getting to one knee and with a grunt shoved my sword up through the soldiers' chin, causing blood to squirt out in a fast stream. With another grunt I shoved him off my sword and turned back to face Gangrel, who was now sitting atop the burning wagon with his legs dangling over the side in a nonchalant manner.

"I think you missed one mister hero" And he pointed to an archer just as he released an arrow, which slammed painfully into my shoulder. _Oh you have got to be kidding me, again!_

Stumbling back from the blow I turned my attention to the archer and with an angry grunt ripped the arrow from my shoulder and walked over towards the soldier with the lance impaled through his body and with a tug and a wet squelching sound ripped it through his body. Adjusting the grip on the bloody lance and quickly taking aim at the archer, who was still nocking another arrow, with an angry roar I launched the lance towards the archer, the lance itself caving in his skull causing him to flop backwards in a crumpled heap.

"Oh ho ho! Brutal I love it!" Gangrel letting out a squeal as he excitedly clapped his hands like a child.

"Honestly… I was aiming for his chest…" I deadpanned between ragged breaths to which Gangrel replied with a cackle of laughter. As this… morbid banter was going on more soldiers began encircling the square and soon the whole area was surrounded by Plegian soldiers. As the soldiers began slowly closing in, Gangrel clapped his hands and rose to his feet in a theatrical manner.

"Hold now!" And he stepped off the burning wagon and began making his way towards me. "You know what Roland; you've caught my attention so I'll indulge you in a little duel whadda say?"

"Let's get this going then" and I flourished my blade once more before getting in a defensive stance.

"Cwhaha! Such enthusiasm I love it!" And Gangrel unsheathed a strange sword that was shaped like a lightning bolt, sparks of electricity bouncing around the blade as he twirled it around, the sword itself seemed to hum as it moved through the air. A long silence passed as we circled one another, the only sound to be heard was the crackling fire of the burning wagon and the distant shouts and screams in the distance. As if we were pulled by an invisible string Gangrel and myself dove at each other, the Mad King letting out savage laughter as our blades collided, the sparks from Gangrel's blade shot off in all directions as our blades slammed into one another in a frenzied rush of lighting and steel. Our mad rush of slashing and blocking was broken as I jumped back and brought my blade down in a heavy overhead slash, Gangrel swiftly sidestepped the blow and slapped my sword to the side, I didn't have much time to react as he jumped in close and with one hand grasped my shoulder and slammed his knee into my gut. Bending down as the air left my lungs, I felt Gangrel roll over my back and a sudden pained arced across my back which was followed by a strange numbness, I retaliated with a wild slash as I spun around to face him, thankfully I was rewarded as my blade sliced across his chest. Stumbling away from on another, my hand holding my stomach as I tried my best to get my breath back, looking at Gangrel he traced a finger across the cut across his chest and licked the blood off his finger his eyes widening in sudden realisation.

"Cwhehe now I remember! You're that swordsman that came to rescue that darling little noble girl. Aversa said you caused her a bit of trouble"

"Well… I'm glad she remembers me. I have unfinished business with her" I replied deadpanning again, straightening up and taking a deep breath I brought my blade up in a defensive stance once again. Gangrel's face lit up in a savage grin as he let out another bout of laughter.

"Oh well maybe you can finish it up now!" And he clicked his fingers, I felt a strange void behind me and I spun around just in time to have a surge of dark energy slam into my chest, causing me to skid back a couple of feet. Getting to one knee and planting my sword into the ground I saw Aversa standing next to Gangrel, dark magic swirling around her hands as she gave me a seductive smirk.

"Well met darling, I didn't think we would see each other so soon" Rising to my feet once more I spat out a small glob of blood.

"Hmmpf I see you brought a dance partner again" I deadpanned, to which the pair shared a small bout of laughter.

"Cwhaha I hope you don't plan on running away Roland! It's just starting to get good"

"Oh don't worry I'm just get warmed up! RRAAGH!" And I dove forward towards towards Gangrel my sword slashing in a wide arc, Gangrel easily parrying my blade to the side as he grasped my shoulder again and flipped over the top of me, kicking me in the back towards Aversa as she shot a plume of dark energy my way. Falling to my knees and rolling out of the way I slashed my sword across her legs but missed as she cartwheeled away, her foot booting me in the face as she retreated back. Stumbling back towards Gangrel who swung his sword in an overhead slash, I quickly brought my sword up to block the strike, sparks of lighting firing off as our blades collided, with our sword above our heads I angrily slammed my head into Gangrel's forehead causing the Mad King to stumble back in laughter. I didn't have much time to do a follow up attack as I felt my hair stand on end and quickly spun around to see Aversa charging up another blast of dark magic, rushing forward I brought my blade up in an uppercut which interrupted Aversa's concentration as she caught my blade with her hands coated in dark energy. Pushing my sword away she began a mad rush of pummelling fist and palm strikes which forced me back towards the edge of the square towards a burning building, with one last palm strike hitting my sword to the side she flipped back towards Gangrel, the two sharing a look before Aversa fired off a surge of dark energy, Gangrel also pointed his lighting shaped sword towards me and from it erupted a blast of lightning. Brining up my sword in a one last ditch effort to protect myself, both beams of magic slammed into me, searing pain erupting throughout my body as I flew back into the building and slid off the wall in a crumpled heap. _Shit… this… isn't good._

My breathing ragged and out of sync, with one hand I grabbed the edge of the windowsill and pulled myself to my feet, my chest and arms still had steam rising from where I got hit and with my other arm brought my sword up in front of me in a pathetic defensive stance.

"Oh would you look at that Aversa! He's still breathing. And here I thought my fun ended" Barely able to raise my head I saw Gangrel walking up to me with Aversa by his side.

"You now what Roland I like you. I can see that you live for the thrill of the hunt and the utter joy of taking someone's life from them. So how about it huh? Leave these Ylissean's and come join me, because I can give you exactly what these peace mongering dogs can't."

"Go to hell…" And I spat out another glob of blood at Gangrel's feet, the Mad King gave a look of mock disappointment before shrugging and raising his blade above his head.

"Hmm well not the answer I was looking for. Oh well time to die" And began bringing his blade down. _Damn it… I can't let it end like this… still need to… Mari… I'm sorry…_

"Wait please stop this!" A voice called out just before Gangrel's blade reached my neck, struggling to lift my head I saw Emmeryn run out into the square, tears running down her face as she ran towards Gangrel.

"Please stop this madness! I beg you"

"My my, well greetings to you your majesty. I thought I would make myself comfortable in your- "However Emmeryn cut him off as she fell to her knees and bent her head to the ground.

"King Gangrel please stop this needless death and bloodshed." Gangrel adopted a pensive look as he stared Emmeryn down like she was an item on sale, placing a hand to his chin a wide grin spread across his face.

"Are you saying your willing to give your life for this man and country?"

"Yes of course" Emmeryn replied without a second thought. Gritting my teeth and with a grunt straightened myself up.

"Emmeryn… you can't. you promised me you would stay hidden…" Emmeryn raised her head towards me, tears no longer streaming down her face, instead she had the look of a determined queen.

"Roland I will no longer stand idly by as people are being killed to protect me. This time I will protect everyone."

"Cwhaha well spoken your grace! Men take her away we're done here!" And Gangrel lowered his sword and began walking away, helping Emmeryn to her feet in a mocking manner.

"Damn it… Gangrel!" And I took one shaky step towards him with my sword raised above my head. Gangrel quickly spun around swinging his sword towards me, but before it could hit a blast of dark energy slammed into my chest once more and I was sent flying through the window and into the burning building. Slamming into a column before falling to the ground the whole ceiling collapsing around me the column I slammed into falling across my body pinning me to the ground.

"ROLAND!" I heard Emmeryn scream out followed by the mad cackling laughter of Gangrel as it slowly receded into the distance. The interior of the building begun filling with smoke as the fire began to spread around me.

"Crap… need to… get out… need to…" Despite my best efforts to heave the column off me it was too heavy to move and I could barely breathe due to all the smoke. Suddenly a black void engulfed the fire within the room instantly smothering it out, raising my head slightly I with hands outstretched Aversa standing in the doorway of the building. Flicking her hands, the dark void retreated back towards her and with the fires now put out began walking towards me. Bending down to one knee she cupped my face with her fingers giving a mischievous smirk

"My master still has need of you. So you can't die yet" And she let go of my face and began walking away.

"Aversa… get… back… here…" I mumbled out, my hand outstretched towards her receding figure as I fell into unconsciousness.

 _ **XX**_

….

Ro…

Land! …

 _Huh, what's…_

Opening my eyes slightly, multiple blurry figures were gathering around me, I was too dizzy to make out any details. One figure came closer into my vision and I could faintly make out large floppy ears.

"Roland! Can you hear me?"

"Huh? Panne?" The face of Panne softened slightly before getting to her feet and signalling to another blurry figure.

"You two man spawn! Get this column off him but do it slowly. Any drastic movements could bring this building down. As the two figures came closer I began fading in and out of consciousness, only being able to figure out what was going on moments at a time. Soon the heavy weight was lifted of my body and I remember being lifted to my feet slowly. Suddenly a bright light filled the darkness of my vision and I opened my eyes slightly to see the ruined city square and other burnt or collapsed buildings. The two people carrying me were talking to me but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was being carried somewhere but I couldn't figure out where, I opened my eyes again and I saw the blue hair of Chrom in front of me. _Chrom…_ Doing my best I shrugged out of the grip of the people holding me and I stumbled towards Chrom, who caught me by the shoulders a look of shock and worry etched across his face.

"Roland? What are you doing! You need to-" Cutting him off I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt with what little strength I had in me and brought him closer.

"Chrom… I'm sorry… couldn't… protect…" And I faded back into the dark void of sleep.

The next few days were spent in a room somewhere in the palace with Lissa tending to my injuries, once I was good enough to move around I snuck out of the make-shift infirmary grabbing my sword as I left the room. _Lissa is probably going to kill me for doing this._

Shuffling my way to the back of the palace into the larger courtyard, bandages covering my body made it harder to move around in. Eventually I made it to the large oak tree and slumped against it and slid down sitting on the grass, pulling my sword from its sheath I held it in front of me and calmed my breathing. Closing my eyes, I tightened my grip on the blade till it started shaking in my grasp, focusing on my anger my… rage for being too weak to protect Emmeryn, my rage for being too weak to kill Gangrel when I had the chance. The rage at myself for being an utter fool.

"Rragh!" With a strenuous grunt I opened my eyes to see my sword engulfed in a raging black flame that swirled around the blade in a furious trance, the flame sizzling and crackling in the morning air. _With this power I won't lose anyone ever again!_

 **Miriel's Notebook**

 **Subject- Roland**

 **Country of Origin- Unknown (** _It is likely he was born in Valm due to having an almost unnoticeable Valmese accent_ _ **)**_

 **Height- 6ft**

 **Blood type- O-**

 **Noticeable Skills-** _A swordsman capable of going toe to toe with the man considered to be the next West-Khan Lon'qu. Although he doesn't have as much skill as Lon'qu he is quite stronger than him, almost on par with Chrom._

 **Other Notes-** _Roland doesn't interact much with many of the Shepherd's and he does not reveal much about his past and I suspect he will never reveal his past to us. However, he has formed a bond with the royal family and Robin their tactician. Only time will tell if Roland opens up more to us. Overall he is a person worth keeping an eye on, and more notes must be taken ~Miriel_

 **Authors Notes: Hey everyone I'm still alive! First off I would like to apologise that its taken… 2 months! (geez) to get this chapter out. I've been dealing with some personal problems and overall I've had a lack of motivation to write over the past month, so thank you all for being patient with me. Anyways this chapter was pretty fun to write especially near the end with Roland getting destroyed by Gangrel and Aversa and the sweet moment he shared with Emm. Okay I've prattled on long enough, once again thank you guys for being patient and for also taking the time to read this story/chapter. Let me know in a review on what I can improve upon and I'll see you guys next chapter!**


	10. Grimleal

_**Chapter 8: Believers in Ruin**_

 _Emmeryn is gone, taken away by Gangrel in his surprise attack on Ylisstol. And its all because I foolishly thought I was strong enough to kill Gangrel surrounded by his own army by myself… no there's still time to save her and I promise you Chrom and Lissa I will get her back._

"Ugh its too damn hot…" I grumbled out as the ferocious Plegian sun was beating down upon us as we slowly marched through the vast wasteland that was known the Solitudinem Desert, which covered the majority of northern Plegia and bordered along Ferox's western borderline. It had been four weeks since Plegia's attack on Ylisstol and Emmeryn's kidnapping and we only had another week until Gangrel fulfilled his ultimatum of executing Emmeryn. We would have moved out sooner but the north and east areas of Ylisstol were in shambles, as those two districts were hit the hardest during the attack and many citizens were injured, missing or were without a home. Leaving Chrom and Robin to quickly take charge of the situation and assemble search and rescue groups and to also aid in the reconstruction of those districts. Also whatever army Ylisstol had to protect itself was too small to mount a large scale counterattack against Plegia and thus we had to wait for Feroxi reinforcements lead by Flavia. And as for myself… well I was apparently stuck under that column and rubble for two days before the vanguard of Shepherd's made it to the city and found me. So I was getting better by the day, but without any elixirs to heal my wounds and broken ribs it was an annoyingly slow recovery. Any elixirs that could be found were given to the more injured and apparently they take a couple of months to brew according to Maribelle, so by the time it came to heal me I was out of luck. Plus, Lissa finding me almost passed out from exhaustion from igniting my sword in my early stages of recovering didn't do wonders for my already sour mood. _Not like this damn heat is helping my mood either._

I continued to grumble as I trudged along through the sand, adjusting my sash so that it wrapped around my coat before slipping out of my coat sleeves so that my coat hung from around my waist, hoping this would at least cool me down till nightfall.

"What's wrong Bandit? The heat getting to ya?" The snickering voice of Gaius appearing besides me.

"Oh its you" I grumbled out glancing from the corner of my eye to see the orange haired thief walking besides me. At this point I was getting used to Gaius appearing from seemingly thin air, so his sudden arrivals didn't surprise me as much anymore.

"You don't sound too happy to see me?"

"Would you believe me if I told you your mere presence has made my day better" I replied with slight exasperation.

"Nope" And he pulled a swirling pink lollipop from on of his many coat pockets and plopped it into his mouth before continuing. "Seems like you Valmanese can't handle the heat very well" I perked my head up at that and gave him a curious look as he motioned with his head towards Lon'qu, who also had his coat wrapped around his waist revealing his bare chest as he was trudging in front of a very red faced Lissa. Looking back towards him I narrowed my eyes slightly before speaking.

"Okay noted. But how did you know I'm from…"

"Valm? You have an accent" He simply stated to which I replied with a grunt. As our march continued under the burning sun through the day, Gaius and myself maintaining a peaceful silence. With the thief only speaking up to either complain how much sand is in his pockets and boots or to make jabs at me and how I can't handle the desert heat, much to my annoyance. _Damn it… why couldn't we have just gone through the mountains again. But nooo we just had to go through the desert._

I was brought out of my reverie as Gaius snapped his fingers and tapped me on the shoulder.

"That reminds me, usually your hanging around Blue, Bubbles and the rest of the royal escort on these little marches of ours. Now your hanging out back here, what's up with that?"

"I'm guessing Bubbles is referring to Robin?" I replied with a confused look, to which Gaius flashed a cheeky grin. Letting out a low sigh I brought my hand up to the bridge of my nose.

"Ugh of course it is…"

"You're not answering my question Bandit"

"Look its… complicated" I mumbled out. To be perfectly honest it wasn't complicated at all, I just figured the last person Chrom and Lissa needed support from was the man who failed to protect their sister in the first place. So these past couple of weeks I've mainly been avoiding them lest it get awkward or worse… Besides they had other people to give them a shoulder to lean on, Chrom had Frederick and surprisingly Sumia and Lissa had Maribelle and both of them had Robin who always seemed willing to lend an ear and hear out their worries. So I was probably the last person they wanted to see.

"That's not a proper answer" He replied with a hint of cheek, giving an annoyed sigh I turned to face Gaius.

"Listen here I don't have to- "

 _CLUNK_

"Wha- Ahh!" Tumbling forward I fell face first into the sand. Lying on the ground I could hear the laughter of Gaius and another voice I couldn't make out. _You have got to be kidding me…_

Letting out a large exasperated sigh I adjusted myself to see what I tripped over only to see…

"Kellam?! What the hell are you doing in the ground? And why didn't you warn me before I tripped over you?" And there sunken up to his waist in his heavy metal armour was Kellam with a worried look to his face.

"S-Sorry Roland I did try to warn you by waving my arms but you didn't see me…"

"Then why didn't you warn me Gaius?"

"Because it was hilarious" The thief replied bending over with laughter.

"You didn't see me either Gaius" Kellam meekly stated, at this point Miriel stepped out from behind a nearby boulder scribbling in one of her notebooks.

"Very interesting, so far no individuals have yet to identify subject before making physical contact… requires further study." And with a well practiced flick of her hand flipped her notebook closed. With an angry grumble I pushed myself to my feet with the help of Gaius, shooting the sugar thief the stink eye as I straightened my back and tried my best to dust off the sand, he didn't notice as he was recovering from his laughing fit. Clearing my throat and dusting off my coat I turned to the sunken knight in the ground.

"Anyways you didn't really explain how you sunk into the ground"

"Oh w-well I think its because of my armour. Its too heavy to be able to walk on this sand"

"Just how long have you been stuck Clunky?" Asked Gaius as he walked around Kellam popping a toffee into his mouth.

"Umm… about three minutes or so. I tried calling for help but nobody noticed aside from Miriel"

"And you didn't think to help him?" I asked turning to Miriel, who had begun slowly walking around Kellam waving her hand around him, mumbling to herself. After waving her hands around Kellam some more she turned to me and adjusted her glasses.

"The thought had crossed my mind, but I decided this situation could be used to gather valuable data for my research"

"Of course you did…" I sighed out, while palming my forehead. _How did I end up with these weirdos again?_

"Um guys I don't want to complain or anything but its starting to get really hot… also I think I'm sinking again" Kellam called out in a meek voice, turning back to him it really looked like he sunk a few more inches.

"Oh uh right. Let's get you out of there, Gaius gimme a hand will ya?" And I motioned to the thief who was crouching besides Kellam poking at his armour.

"Why do I have to help?"

"Because, you really think Miriel is going to help pull him out? No offense Miriel" But I don't think she heard me as she was busy scribbling in one of her notebooks again

"Hrmm good point" And he got to his feet, dusting the sand from his pants as he did.

"Okay how are we gonna do this Bandit?" Asked Gaius as he stepped up besides me, throwing another piece of candy into his mouth as he did.

"Simple you take one arm and I'll take the other, and then we just pull him out" As I explained this I grabbed Kellam's left forearm in a tight grip, motioning for Gaius to do the same. "Besides how hard can it be right?"

Apparently it was a hell of a lot harder that I initially thought. Over our multiple attempts to pull Kellam out, the only thing that happened was myself and Gaius's feet sinking into the sand and Gaius falling head over heels as Kellam's gauntlet slipped off from one of his arms in our attempts to pull him free.

"Okay so this isn't working out" I panted out as I stepped away from our failing rescue attempt, wiping beads of sweat away from my forehead.

"Oh you don't say!" As Gaius fell backwards onto the sand yet again, simply deciding to lay on the ground to catch his breath.

"Don't you… sass me…" Taking in a large gulp of air, to steady my breathing I straightened up and looked around to see if anything or anyone in the convoy could help us to stop looking like a bunch of drunken fools.

"Any other bright ideas Bandit?" Gaius asked in a sarcastic tone as he pushed himself up from the ground. Ignoring him I kept a lookout for anything useful, before finding someone that could give us a hand… or two.

"Yeah just one. I'll be right back, Kellam don't go anywhere" And I jogged off towards the convoy of Shepherds, hearing the exasperated groan of both Kellam and Gaius as I ran off.

Jogging up towards the hulking figure of Vaike who seemed to be stuck in a very one sided conversation with Maribelle, the noblewoman atop her steed with her parasol extended out speaking in an exasperated tone.

"Vaike you buffoon! you at least need cover yourself with a hat, the last thing we need is to carry you around because you passed out from heat stroke"

"Ah don'tcha worry about it Maribelle. Ol'Teach here ain't gonna pass out from some sunshine" Vaike responded with a booming laugh much to Maribelle's chagrin. Upon seeing my arrival Maribelle perked up slightly and raised her small hand in a wave.

"Greetings Roland, perhaps you can talk some sense into Vaike about his choice of clothing"

"I'm probably the last person you want to talk to about fashion…" Shaking my head quickly and raising my hands I quickly changed the subject. "…Anyways I'm not here to talk about Vaike's clothes, or lack there of. We need his help pulling Kellam out of the sand"

"Wait… How did Kellam get stuck in the sand?" Maribelle asked in a confused tone.

"His armour. Anyway you up for it Vaike?"

"Of course! Teach is always ready to help out his underlings in times of need"

 _Underlings?_

"Uh right. Anyways let's go he's this way" and I began to lead Vaike away but suddenly Maribelle's parasol whipped out in front of me stopping us in our tracks.

"Roland do you mean to say that you've been trying to pull Kellam out of the ground all this time?" Maribelle narrowed her eyes and spoke in an ice cold tone dripping with authority.

"Uh yes?"

"In his armour?"

"Yeah?"

 **THWUMP**

Maribelle's parasol moved in a flash as she whacked me over the head before pulling it back and extending it out once more.

"Ow! What was that for?" Rubbing my head giving Maribelle a perplexed look, the noblewoman gave a small huff before folding her arms, before staring daggers at me.

"The last thing I need is for you to reopen your wounds and bleed out or break your stiches and bleed out… again!"

"Look I'm fine, I think I would know if I opened anything- "

 **THWAP**

Maribelle's parasol struck my head again with lightning fast speed. _Ow! Okay that's gonna bruise._

"The last time you reopened your wounds you were swinging that barbaric sword around and you almost passed out from blood loss… again!"

"Okay, okay I get it. Can you just stop hitting me?" Rubbing my head as I raised one hand in surrender.

"I'll consider it, only if you stop exerting yourself while your recovering. Good grief you have to be the most problematic patient I have" She sighed out closing her eyes and placing her hand to the bridge of her nose.

"Alright, alright I'll try my best to not move around to much. Happy?" Maribelle shot open one eye and started staring daggers at me yet again, slowing closing her parasol readying for another strike.

"No, you will not ' _try'_ you ' _will'_ do your best to not move around. Am I clear?" I backed up slowly nodding my head in quick succession.

"Yes ma'am"

"Good. Now hurry and show Vaike where Kellam is, only Naga knows how far he's sunk now"

"Uh right. Let's go Vaike" And I quickly broke into a fast pace walk, not daring to invite more of Maribelle's wrath by jogging or running. Dragging Vaike by his metal collar to where Kellam was stuck, the large warrior covering his mouth with one hand as he giggled away like a child.

"Oh shut up" I grumbled shooting Vaike an annoyed glare.

"What? Teach hasn't said anything" Vaike said while trying and failing to suppress his rising laughter.

"Rgh whatever let's just get Kellam out of the ground"

By the time we made it to the others, Gaius was sat on a boulder looking bored as he plopped another candy into his mouth. Miriel was nowhere to be seen so she probably left to do more 'research' elsewhere and Kellam was looking very uncomfortable as he was now sunk up to his chest. Surprisingly and annoyingly Vaike managed to pull out the sunken knight with ease. Sand began pouring out of all the joints in Kellam's armour as he unbuckled the armour off and handed various pieces to Vaike so that he could walk around without fear of sinking again. Once that was done everyone went on their merry way back to the now receding convoy, where we continued our slow march in the scorching sun. Once back to the convoy I received yet another lecture from Maribelle as she sat me down in the back of the medicinal wagon checking to see wether I broke any stiches or opened any of my wounds. So yeah, nothing really improved my mood over the day until we made camp just as dusk fell, even then I spent most of the evening in the infirmary having Maribelle finish healing me in my final stages of recovery. The atmosphere in the camp wasn't any better, the usual camp antics of dancing around the fire and cheery songs being sung were now replaced with a cold silence and solemn conversations of the upcoming battle with Plegia. Chrom, Robin and Frederick were shut away in the war tent until the late hours of the night. And many of the Shepherds went back to their own tents earlier than usual. This cycle of marching through the burning desert and camping out in the cold silent nights continued for two long and deathly boring days.

 _ **XXX**_

Dust and sand kicked up all around us as a brilliant white pegasus landed next to Robin and myself, gracefully dismounting from the steed was a woman with fiery crimson hair that whipped around her from the small gusts of wind caused by the pegasus.

"Sir Robin, villages to the south of us are being assaulted by large group" She spoke in a cool and calm voice that seemed to be laced with sadness.

"Did you get close enough to see if they were Risen?" Robin replied, taking on an authoritative and serious tone.

"No Sir, I tried to but I had to retreat before I got within range of their magic"

"Magic? That doesn't sound like Risen" I chimed in with folded arms turning to Robin. The tactician gave a curt nod in agreement before turning back to the knight.

"Agreed. Thanks for the report Cordelia, tell Chrom to ready the Shepherd's for battle as quickly as possible, the more time we waste preparing, the more innocent lives are in danger"

"As you wish Sir!" And Cordelia gave a quick salute to Robin much to his dismay and my pleasure, before turning on her heel and mounting her pegasus, not before giving me a strange look due to my chuckling. As she was about to take off Robin quickly raised his hand to get her attention.

"Oh and Cordelia! There's no need to call me a Sir, just Robin is fine"

"Yes Sir, uh I mean R-Robin" And she galloped away into the sky with her face almost as red as her hair. As soon as she was gone Robin gave me a swift elbow to the arm while also giving an exasperated glare.

"What was that for? I didn't say anything" I said between a small chuckle, Robin just let out a sigh before making his way to the front of the convoy.

"You know what it was for. Now let's go, times wasting"  
"Yes sir!"

"Ugh…"

"Alright everyone! There's innocent lives on the line so we need to move hard and fast. Those of you with heavy armour try and stay out of the sand it will only slow you down…" Robin shouted with his sword raised above his head, he then spun on his heel to face Sumia and Cordelia lowering his voice as he did. I couldn't quite make out what he was saying to them, but not long after he finished talking both knights gave a swift nod and left to mount up with Cordelia galloping into the sky moments later. While Robin was quickly pacing around giving orders to everyone, I found myself once again standing with my hands in my coat pockets watching as everyone frantically prepared for the upcoming battle. _Well its not like I have to ready a pegasus or anything… unless I want to re-adjust my scabbard for the umpteenth time…_

Shading my eyes with my hand, I gave a gruff sigh as I looked out over the small flourishing oasis that stood out like a sore thumb in the larger desolate desert, thankfully the large group of bandits didn't seem to notice us yet so they still moved to the small cluster of villages at a leisurely pace. However, a billowing plume of sand caught my attention from the corner of my eye, squinting my eyes and turning my head to the plume of sand a small child burst forth at a fast sprint, a tall man with a large sword strapped across his back also came from the sand following close behind the child and not long after that a group of men wearing dark robes chased after them, flinging gusts of wind at the man and child.

 _Well you certainly don't see that everyday…_

And with a small sigh I broke out into a sprint, rushing towards the small child still running from the group of men, calling out to Robin as I broke away from the Shepherd's.

"Robin we gotta move now!" Pointing my hand as I called out, the ashen haired tactician followed my hand towards where I was pointing, realisation dawned on his face and he also broke out into a sprint, calling back towards me.

"I'm right with you!" Turning back towards the Shepherd's Robin shouted out "Gaius you're with us let's move!" And soon the sugar thief burst from within the crowd of Shepherd's and was soon running side by side with Robin. It wasn't too long before Robin and Gaius caught up to me, and by now we were close enough to make out some details on what was happening. The child appeared to be a young girl who couldn't be older than ten or eleven, she had long flowing blonde that tapered off into a pale green hair, her purple cape billowed out behind her as she ran, the clothing she wore was also quite revealing even for a child. However, what was even weirder was that she had long tapered ears instead of you know normal round ones. The man chasing behind her had short spikey chestnut hair and was almost as tall as Kellam, he had a large broadsword strapped across his back and he seemed to be carrying it with ease so its safe to assume that he's pretty strong. And the men in the robes further behind seemed to wear robes in similar design to Robin except they were brown in colour compared to Robin's black and purple.

"We're getting closer" Gaius called out.

"Yeah and so are they…" Robin replied between breaths before turning his head to me. "Roland do you think you can hold off the big guy long enough from me and Gaius to get the girl out of here?"

"Shouldn't be a problem" I replied while ripping my sword from its sheath, the steel shining bright in the sun. Surging forward multiple bolts of lighting flew past me and crashed into the ground in front of the men wearing the robes cutting them off from the girl as large plumes of dust and sand erupted from the impact. The large man stopped dead in his tracks to see what was happening behind him, giving me enough time to jump into the air and bring my sword down on to him with a roar.

"RRAAGH!"

However instead of cutting into flesh, my sword hit steel and leather and it was lodged into the large shield-like pauldron that covered the man's left shoulder.

"W-What the? How did…"

"You be very strong with sword no?" He spoke in a thick Feroxi accent as he looked over his shoulder with a large toothy grin. "Gregor also be strong with sword" before grabbing the large broadsword strapped across his back with his other arm and swinging it with incredible speed. Ripping my sword from his pauldron I fell into backwards roll before the broadsword could cleave my head off, coming back up onto my feet readying myself for another attack expect… he just stood there with his broadsword lying flat across his shoulder.

"Hey you know this is the part where you fight back old-man" I growled out in irritation, to which he replied with a deep sigh as he palmed his forehead.

"That hurts Gregor's feelings being called old man. Besides Gregor is busy keeping little one safe" Raising an eyebrow in confusion I relaxed my stance a little, but still kept my blade up.

"You mean the girl?"

"Of course Gregor means the wee-girl. Who else would be little one for Gregor to keep safe"

 _Then why in Naga's name was she running from him then… But… ugh this is confusing…_

"…Sorry old-timer but I don't think believe you"

"Why is it so hard to believe Gregor? Gregor has been helping wee-one run away from the bad men" However, before I could voice my reply, blades of wind cut through the plume of sand and crashed around myself and this so called Gregor.

"Argh it has been all day with the whooshing of the magic's with these people. Gregor has no time for antics like this" And he pulled his large broadsword into a defensive stance turning to face the incoming wave of the robed men. _And_ _that's my queue to leave…_

Turning away from Gregor and dodging random blades of wind from the battle behind me, I made my way back to where Robin was protecting the little girl, Gaius was a short distance away battling with a pair of mages but he seemed to be handling himself quite well so I didn't intervene.

"There's no need to cry now we're here to protect you" Robin spoke in a calm voice as he got to one knee and placed a hand to the girl's shoulder, the girl gave a couple of sniffles as she dried her eyes seeming to recover from a recent crying fit. Running up to the pair and sheathing my sword I called out to Robin.

"Robin if you've got the girl we should probably- "

"AH! Not another creep!" And the girl jumped to her feet and delivered a well placed punch to my… nether region effectively cutting me off.

"Ugh. Why me though…" I wheezed out collapsing to my knees covering my manhood with my hands to protect them from further harm. The girl wound back her fist to deliver another crippling blow, although Robin (thank Naga) caught her by the wrist saving me from the wrath of this small child.

"Whoa! Don't worry he's with us" The girl dropped her hand and covered her mouth with her other, eyes going wide with shock.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry please forgive me mister. Its just that I thought you were with that group of bad guys and-" I tentatively raised a hand to cut her off.

"No it's all good, it happens more often than you think…" I wheezed out, slowly rising to my feet.

"Looks like Gregor is not the only one to be getting punches to the groin today" Came the booming voice of the Feroxi swordsman, followed by a large hand clapping me on the back causing me to stumble forward slightly. Robin quickly raised his hand up, his palm crackling with lighting as he pushed the girl behind him away from Gregor. Grabbing Robin by the arm I slowly pushed it down to defuse the situation.

"I'm pretty sure he's with the girl so there's no need to worry about him" Robin looked between me and Gregor before shaking his hand dissipating the remaining lighting, giving a Gregor an apologetic look.

"Sorry about that" But Gregor waved off Robin's apology before turning to me with a large toothy grin.

"Gregor always knew you would be seeing the sense eventually!"

"Sorry to break this little gathering, but we have more bad guys heading our way" Came the voice of Gaius as he jogged up towards us having finished his battle with the mages. Various robed figures appeared out from the giant ribcages that were scattered around the oasis supporting Gaius's claim.

"All right everyone let's get out of here. The last thing we need is to be caught out in the open" Called out Robin, Gregor raised his own booming voice as he picked up the girl by the collar of her cape and sat her on his shoulder much to her surprise.

"Agreed. There is teeny village west of here, let us be making that way" And he bounded away to one of the smaller ribcages, the remaining three of us shared a look with one another before running after Gregor. As we ran across the white desert sands small skirmishes between the Shepherd's and the robed figures could be seen throughout the oasis, thankfully we seemed to be winning the battle as various robed figures could be seen running up the sand dunes away from the fighting. I must have been caught up in the fighting that I didn't notice we caught up to Gregor until I felt a small hand tap me on the head. Looking up I saw the long eared girl smiling down sheepishly at me.

"Hey mister I'm sorry about the whole punching thing before. I just get a bit nervous when I meet people outside my age group. I'm Nowi by the way" As she finished she shone a bright smile and offered her petite hand in a handshake, as the situation we were in was completely normal and not at all bizarre. Giving her a strange look I reached up and shook her hand.

"Names Roland. And you don't need keep bringing that up. Like I said before, it happens more than you think"

"The part where you're mistaken for a bandit OR the punching in the crown jewels" Came the chuckling voice of Gaius.

"Rgh quite you. I didn't think you would see that" Shooting Gaius an irritated look, to which the thief replied with a laugh.

"Oh I saw it alright, almost got burnt to a crisp because of it"

"Gods you're never going to let this go, are you?"

"Oh-ho, no way"

"Eyes up you two, there's more of those robed men at the gate of the village" Robin called out, causing our banter to be saved for later. As we got closer to the village Gaius and myself surged forward followed by bolts of lighting fired from Robin, drawing our blades and leaping into battle catching our foes by surprise. With the additional help of Gregor, we made short work of robed men.

"Thank you brave sirs! If it wasn't for you the Grimleal would have broken down the gate and wrecked havoc upon our village." Came the voice of an elderly man as his shining bald head peeked over the wooden and bone wall of the village. Robin sheathed his sword and pocketed his tome as he turned to face the old man, shading his eyes with his hands to see clearly.

"It's no trouble at all elder, are any of your people injured? If so we have healers travelling with us that can tend to them" However a small hand appeared next to the old mans head waving Robin's concerns off.

"Thank you for your kindness, but none of my people are injured. I suspect you would have need of them yourselves- "

"Grandpa! Grandpa! There's more of the bad men coming" Seemingly from nowhere a small chestnut haired boy ran up to the gate waving his hands frantically towards the old man. The old man called out into the village and soon the burnt and scorched gate opened a fraction to allow the boy entry. Before he could enter however Robin quickly placed a hand to the boy's shoulder.

"Where are these bad men coming from?"

"Just over yonder by the skeleton of that dragon" The boy frantically pointing over his shoulder to a large skeleton just south of the village, where a large group of figures were emerging from. Giving a quick nod of thanks, Robin sent the boy on his way before drawing out his sword.

"Surely you all don't intend to fight them off for our sakes. You would be safer inside the village!" Came the anxious voice of the elder.

"That's exactly what we intend to do. Get everyone inside and don't open the gates until the fighting is over." Robin replied in a confident voice, the rest of us drawing our blades in affirmation of our actions.

"Very well then, at least let the child in" And the elder motioned to Nowi who was perched up on Gregor's shoulder again. Nowi gave a surprised look before gazing up to the elder with a pout. "I can be useful too you know!" Gregor even agreeing with her as he raised his own voice. "It is true little one very helpful" The elder gave a low sigh at this before his bald head disappeared from view.

"…Very well, you are all braves fools for doing this" And soon after the gates to the village closed with a thud.

"Are you sure about this Bubbles? Letting this kid here stay and fight?" Robin raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but brushed it aside and turned to Gregor.

"I have to agree with Gaius on this. Are you sure Nowi should be with us?"

"Hey! I'm not some kid you know, I'm like a thousand or something years old, I don't know I forget sometimes. But anyways I can handle myself quite fine"

"Pfft sure you are and I'm one of the Khans of Ferox" I scoffed, much to Nowi's annoyance.

"It be all right, wee one will be very helpful in fight to come" Gregor said with unshakeable confidence and booming laughter.

"Hmm fine. I don't agree with it Gregor but if you believe in her that much, there's nothing I can do to stop you…" Robin slumped down with a sigh before straightening up and readying his sword, his off hand crackling with lighting. "…for now, let's just prepare for this fight it won't be long now before these Grimleal arrive"

 **XX**

"Here they come…" Came the voice of Gaius as he slid off a rock he was previously was perched on. "And there's a lot of them" Following his gaze south towards what looked like a large dark shadow moving across the white sands of the desert, a large group of possible thirty to forty robed figures made their way towards the village. Moving up besides Robin I gave his shoulder a small nudge.

"So tactician, how many do you think we can take out before the rest of the Shepherd's get here?" Robin pursed his lips before letting out a low sigh, unsheathing his sword as he did.

"Honestly? Not enough." I only gave a small grunt in response before drawing out my sword, Gaius and Gregor followed our lead and also drew out their respective blades. It didn't take long for the large group of Grimleal to arrive within the vicinity of the village, only stopping a short distance away. _Well here goes nothing…_

Adjusting the grip on my sword and concentrating all my anger and hate at the world, life, myself and anyone who pissed me off, focusing it all into my sword.

"Is Roland good? It looks like he has the constipations?" Gregor said in a hushed voice, which even for him was still quite loud.

"RRAGH" And with that my sword bloomed and crackled with black flames that swirled around the blade. "I'm good… just needed a second there…" I said between ragged breaths, before straightening out and bringing my sword up in a defensive stance, seeing from the corners of my eyes as everyone gave me a strange look, before turning back to the matter at hand. The sea of black robes soon parted ways as a hunched over man with a large crooked nose shuffled forward in his purple and red robes.

"Greetings, now if you don't mind hand over the child and we may spare you from Grima's wrath" Speaking in a slow methodical tone, as he pointed an old long finger towards Nowi who was still perched on Gregor's shoulder.

"And why do you think we'll do that?" Said Robin as he stepped forward, his own hand barely containing the lighting he held onto.

"Because she is an important sacrifice to be made to Lord Grima" Replied the priest in almost bored tone, stepping up besides Robin Gaius gave his dagger a quick twirl throwing another sweet into his mouth.

"Yeah not gonna happen Father" Speaking in a serious tone despite his sarcasm, the priest let out a low sigh before a wide smile revealing yellow and black rotted teeth.

"So you defy the one true god Grima and now we shall grant you his mercy. The mercy of death… kill them all but bring that child to me." And he slowly merged back into the sea of black and brown robes, not before giving me a quick once over with his sunken black eyes.

As soon as the head priest retreated within the sea of robes, a large war cry erupted from the robed men and they charged forward. Drawing multiple jagged and rusted weapons, the shining light of Thunder Tomes also sparkled from the wave of incoming darkness. Grounding my feet, I brought my burning sword into a defensive stance and readied myself for the inevitable wave of pain… _And probably death. Just great…_

"Hey Kid! Get back here!" Gaius's shouting snapping out of my solemn reverie, as the small form of Nowi strode past me towards the wave of black and brown robes, a growing pale green light emitting from her hand. _Damn it kid!_

Breaking out into a sprint and reaching out with one hand hoping to at least pull Nowi behind me before the Grimleal got her first. My hand mere inches away from her before an unbelievable heat and pressure erupted from her small body, pushing me back with mere force alone. Nowi hugged the pale green light to her chest and her petite body begun floating in the air before disappearing in a typhoon of sand and wind, the pale green light now growing brighter and brighter as it shone through parts of the sand typhoon. With another burst of heat and a brilliant white light that forced me to cover my eyes, the once small pointed ear girl and in her place stood a large dragon with sparkling golden scales that faded into a deep green. Rearing back and letting out a deafening roar as blue flames and crackling lighting flared out of its nostrils and the corners of its wide jaws, stretching out its wings as it reached its full size, which was easily bigger than any cart or wagon.

"Holy…"

"Shit" I finished for Gaius as I looked back towards the sugar thief as a candy fell from his open mouth, I probably looked just as dumb looking with my mouth wide open.

"She's a-a dragon!" Came the astonished voice of Robin, this was only followed by the booming laughter of Gregor, who was the only one that seemed totally fine seeing a small girl turn into a dragon.

"I refuse to be sacrificed to some dumb god, put in a cage and be made into some sort of entertainment for creeps like you! I won't let that happen ever again!" The voice sounded similar to Nowi's, but it seemed to echo all around not really coming from a specific direction, soon the dragon that was Nowi reared up on her hind legs, stretching out her wings as she did so and unleashed a torrent of lighting and blue flames to the now terrified and screaming Grimleal. Electrifying and incinerating all that was in the path of her rage, the unlucky few that survived Nowi's flames lay on the now glassed sand, their bodies burnt to a crisp but still moaning in pain. The lucky few who were at the back of the charge now ran away in terror towards the dunes of the desert, the dragon form of Nowi sat back on her hind legs and turned her head towards us revealing long sharp teeth in an attempt to smile.

It was only now that I realised that Gaius, Robin and myself were simply staring back at her in dumbstruck awe and partial terror, and also the black flame of my sword had extinguished during Nowi's display of power. Shaking my head, I moved forward and slowly circled Nowi gazing at her draconic features.

"Damn kid you make my flames look like kindling compared to yours" A deep throaty noise emerged from the large chest of Nowi in a rumbling laugh.

"Well I did say I was a thousand years old"

"Yeah but you failed to mention how you're a manakete" Came Gaius as he also begun inspecting Nowi.

"What's a Manakete?" Robin enquired as he joined us circling around Nowi in some sort of weird inspection.

"A dragon that takes on the form of a human" Gaius replied.

"Eh there's a bit more to it than that but yeah that's the gist of it" Came the echoing voice of Nowi once again, who seemed to be enjoying the newfound attention as her the tip of her tail wagged slightly.

"Augh eugh…" Perking up at the coughing I turned away from Nowi and towards the noise that seemed to be coming from one of the many burnt Grimleal, my boots cracking the fresh coat of glass as I made my way closer to the noise. Eventually coming to the half-melted and wheezing body of the head priest, his purple and red robes either burned away or blackened by the flames, one sunken eye flicked towards me or at least seemed to look past me towards the sky. _Well this looks pathetic…_

"Master Grima… my soul is yours to consume…" And his black eye dulled into a lifeless husk and a pool of liquid shadow that resembled tar soon rose out of him towards the air, quickly taking a step back the shadow seemed to follow me before crumbling away into dust. Soon a sickening sensation overcame me. _This is feels like the time at…at…_

Quickly striding back towards the others, I tried to not vomit at the familiar sensation.

"Everything okay Roland you look really pale" Robin inquired with concern in his voice, quickly waving away his concern I found a small rock to sit down on.

"Yeah, all good… just the uh, smell of the burnt bodies just got to me for a second…" Robin looked at me with prying eyes not seeming to believe my lie, but he didn't question me further, thank Naga for that.

"Heh-heh, whoops I guess I went a bit over board with everything huh?" Said Nowi as she was now back in her childlike form, letting out a small embarrassed laugh.

As our small group begun settling down from the recent skirmish, Gregor going to the rest of the charred Grimleal and mercy killing any poor bastard still alive, the rest of us waited for the Shepherd's to clear out the remaining Grimleal and met us at the village we saved, as the old elder of the village begun to sing our praises and offered us to stay in his village for the night. As the crimson sun set over the white sands of the small oasis and the sea of sparkling stars and a crescent moon filled the pitch black of night, hopes seemed high within the laughter filled village of Solitudinem Desert. For the we had gained two new Shepherd's for the battle against Gangrel, the young manakete Nowi who looked forward to travelling Ylisse with a weird assortment of people. And the mercenary who only speaks in third person Gregor, who seemed to go wherever Nowi goes under the answer that he was looking out for her, which seems a bit odd since she quite easily incinerated well over thirty people earlier today. Although when I questioned how Nowi got caught in the first place by the Grimleal she said that she lost her 'Dragonstone' which is what houses her draconic powers until Gregor found it and gave it back to her, so it's probably a good thing that Gregor does keep an eye on her. The villages also seemed quite happy that Nowi had 'saved the day' so to speak, as they told us a tale that took place before the Hero-Kings time. a battle had broken out between an ancient Water-Tribe dragon that was protecting this group of villages from a group of degenerating Earth-Tribe dragons. A fierce battle broke out and for many days the dragons fought, until the Water Dragon had come out victorious, but at the cost of its own life. In its final moments the Water Dragon used the last of its power to bless the barren village with fertile land, thus the village prospered within the desert for generations. So, in their most desperate hour and at Nowi's timely intervention many villagers believed she was a descendent of the ancient Water Dragon, although Nowi herself denies it saying she's from a different tribe. _That tale would explain the huge skeleton ribcages and how its only village so deep within the desert to properly function_.

So until the late hours of the night the Shepherd's remained in good spirits, although I still tried my best to avoid Chrom and Lissa I didn't want to ruin their nights mood with my presence… or so I keep telling myself that. Either way saving Emmeryn from Gangrel seemed to be less daunting when you have a dragon on your side.

 _ **Authors Note:**_ _Hey everyone! Guess who's back and still alive, that's right this guy! But seriously I'm so sorry it's taken this long to get this chapter out, so thank you all for being patient with me, in the future I hope to upload somewhat consistently but at the moment collage will be my first priority and I'll keep chipping away at each chapter whenever I have free time, don't worry I plan on finishing Roland's tale and perhaps beyond. Anywho… there wasn't too much plot to work with this chapter since it's a just one battle in the desert in-game, so I tried to make this more character focused/character interaction as Roland is trying to run away from the consequences his action's caused last chapter. I also tried to expand on a bit of lore with the village since I thought it was pretty weird how they didn't really explain why there were giant bones there anyways. Okay that's all for now and thank you guys for taking the time to read this chapter/story, and please tell me in a review what I can improve upon (aside from my absolutely horrible upload 'schedule') as it's the only way I can improve as a writer, or if you're enjoying the story so far, it's nice what your thoughts might be. Alright later guys and I'll see you in Chapter 9: To Save a Life_


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